Superman: Redemption
by sorahart
Summary: Sequel to Superman: Corruption. Cyborg Superman is ravaging Earth looking for revenge, unaware that Superman is incarcerated. The remaining Justice Lords are still hiding on Earth as well. To win, the JLA may have to trust Superman again... but can they?
1. A Flawed Recovery

**Just to be clear, this story is a sequel to Superman: Corruption. I strongly recommend you read that story first, or else this one will be impossible to follow :)**

Chapter One: A Flawed Recovery

"Heellloooo people of Gotham!" The voice on the radio said exuberantly. "This is your Gotham News Radio, and I'm your host, MadDog! So I know you guys are probably all sick and tired of hearing about Lex Luthor's incarceration and Superman's madness and all that, so I promise that tonight I will not be talking about our old President or the man of steel. Instead, I'd like to bring up the approaching events in space! Events, plural, because there are two of them. First, Earth will be experiencing a small meteor shower within the next week or two that should up the sky pretty nicely. Second, there's going to be a huge solar eclipse next month! And by huge, I mean it's not just a normal eclipse, scientists say that this approaching eclipse could last up to three days! I'll explain why that is in a little bit, but first we're going to take callers to give their opinion on the sudden disappearance of Batman, and the-"

Bruce turned the radio off after that.

"You don't want to listen to them talk about you, Master Bruce?" Alfred grinned.

"To be it subtly… I'd rather swallow and pile of needles." Bruce said as he leaned back in his chair.

"So what is your opinion on Batman's disappearance, Master Bruce? You've only gone out on patrol once in the last two weeks."

"I've had other priorities." Bruce shrugged.

"Such as… Princess Diana?"

"That'd be one of them."

"She is a wonderful woman, hence the name Wonder Woman, I suppose." Alfred chuckled.

"Crime is down anyway. Way down." Bruce looked out the window. "It's hard to believe, but Mercy is actually doing a pretty good job as president. Since she's been in office, crime is down everywhere."

"Yes. Perhaps the time may soon arrive, when the world no longer needs Batman?" Alfred hinted. It was no secret that Alfred was not particularly fond of Bruce's double life.

"Perhaps." Bruce seemed very distant.

The doorbell rang, and Bruce grinned. "Diana's here."

"Shall I let her in, Mater Bruce?"

"I'll do it Al." Bruce got up and walked over to the door, pulling it open and marveling at the figure before him. Diana looked beautiful, as always. She was dressed in her normal street clothes, and greeted Bruce with a warm smile. Bruce looked down at the tux he was wearing, and realized that he was extremely overdressed for the occasion. He was almost embarrassed, but Diana's smile melted the feeling away quickly.

"What's with the tux?" She laughed, stepping in and handing Alfred her coat.

"I… I don't know I figured it was necessary." Bruce rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not like this is the first time we've had dinner Bruce, we're together almost every night." She giggled, closing the door behind her. "Speaking of which, I seems like we're here almost every night. Why don't we ever go out and do anything?"

"I don't do well in crowds. You know that." Bruce smiled.

"I didn't say we would go anywhere crowded." She smiled back. The two of them walked into the dining room, holding hands affectionately.

Alfred smiled wide. Diana had been gracing the mansion nightly for quite some time now. And slowly, her dinners with Bruce had turned into dinners and breakfast, and then full days at the mansion. It was nice to finally see Bruce happy. Alfred had raised Bruce since he was eight years old, and he had never really been happy before. It warmed Alfred's heart to see that finally changing.

Later that night, Bruce and Diana were cuddled on the couch watching television. Diana saw that it was almost midnight and sighed. "Bruce, I'm afraid I have to be getting home. I have a job interview in the morning." She said.

"Yeah, a job interview with Wayne Enterprises." Bruce laughed.

"Bruce, please don't just give me the job because we're together. If I'm going to be working as an ambassador, I want to know that I actually qualify." She said.

"I know. Don't worry, you'll be judged the same as anyone else who walks through the door tomorrow." Bruce assured her.

'Thank you."

Now that Lex Luthor was out of the picture, Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp had gone into business together. And Wayne Enterprises was at the head of the efforts to bring world peace, or at least something close to it. Now they were choosing a company ambassador, to travel the world and try to persuade other countries to joining in the effort. Diana was applying for that job.

Diana said goodbye to Alfred and stepped outside the mansion. But as soon as the door closed behind her, a powerful but familiar voice called her name.

"Diana. You must come with me. Now." Hippolyta said urgently.

"Mother? What are you doing here?" Diana asked.

"We need to talk. It is a matter of the utmost importance." Hippolyta insisted.

"Um, ok… do you want to come inside and-"

"No. We cannot speak here. Follow me." Hippolyta began to take off.

"Wait a minute, mother I have an important interview in the morning and-"

"Diana I promise you that it is not as important as this. Now come." Hippolyta urged, and with a sigh, Diana followed.

_Meanwhile, at a Cadmus board meeting…_

Amanda Waller stood before the board, the twelve people other than herself who ran Cadmus. "Ladies, Gentlemen, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you tonight." Waller said. Everyone nodded, giving full attention. "As we all know, a mere three months ago, Superman snapped. He went on a killing spree, and nearly plunged the world into totalitarianism! This proves one thing, and one thing only. These so called 'heroes' are more of a threat than we first anticipated! The event three months ago serves as indefinite proof, that they can easily be corrupted. They're dangerous."

"So what do you suggest we do, Ms. Waller?" One of the board members asked.

"Yes. With all do respect, President Mercy has already managed to shut down most of our biggest operations. We cannot afford to expose Cadmus anymore than we already have." Another board member stated.

"Agreed. At this point, we cannot act directly." Amanda nodded. "But I propose something different." She threw down a file for them all to look at. "Project SHIELD. I suggest we put together our own team, as a countermeasure to the metas who call themselves heroes."

"But you're forgetting, Ms. Waller, that strict restrictions have been placed on Cadmus! We can no longer perform any sort of genetic alteration research without clearance from Wayne Enterprises, and our entire weapon advancements program has to be focused non-lethal weaponry now!" A board member pointed out.

"True. Which is why Project SHIELD requires Cadmus to do very little. In fact, if we play our cards right, no one will know the SHIELD team has any connection to Cadmus at all."

_Meanwhile, at the apartment of Lois Lane and Kara Kent…_

Lois's vomiting woke Kara up. After several minutes, Lois stepped out of the bathroom and took a drink of water.

"Morning sickness?" Kara asked.

"Yeah." Lois groaned. "Nobody told me how much pregnancy sucks!"

Kara laughed and worked her way out of the bed and into her wheelchair. She wheeled over to her friend, yawning and stretching her arms. "I don't think that's how most mothers look at it, Lois." Both of them were quiet for a moment.

"Who would've known…?" Lois sighed. "Clark and I never even thought that we could have kids. And now…" She began to cry. She always did when she thought about Clark. "I'm scared Kara. I've never been so scared."

"It'll be ok, Lois. Your baby will be just fine." Kara assured her.

"I did love Clark. God, I loved him so much. But that monster… it was not Clark." She sobbed. "Oh God what am I going to tell my baby when he asks about his father? I mean, what am I going to say Kara… 'Sorry, you're daddy turned into a psychotic monster'? What else can I tell them?"

Lois was balling now, and Kara felt terrible for her. "You can tell your baby that their father was a hero. A great, great hero. Because Clark is the father. And like you said, that person he became… it was NOT Clark!" Kara told her.

"Seeing him like that… it killed me inside Kara. How could that have happened?"

"Well, I guess it wasn't completely his fault. Luthor planned it all from the beginning. And he's locked up at Stryker's now, with three consecutive life sentences! He won't ever bother you."

"Yeah." Lois looked out the window. "His lap dog Mercy took over the country."

"Mercy was never really that bad of a person though. Luthor gave her a big pay check, so she was always at his side. But you have to admit that she's done a great job as President. Crime is down all over America, Cadmus is totally under control, and she's done wonders for the Meta Outreach Program!" Kara pointed out.

"Yeah." Lois said distantly. Kara looked down at her legs. The legs she hadn't been able to feel in over three months.

"Now if only her scientists could find a cure for this crap." Kara groaned, trying in vain to stand.

"I'm sure you'll walk again one day, Kara. I mean, you are Kryptonian. Superman… he proved that a Kryptonian can recover from death! So maybe you can recover from a severed spinal cord."

"Maybe." Kara grinned hopefully. Luthor's kryptonite bullet had crippled her. And she vowed that if she ever recovered, she would fly over to Stryker's and break his legs!

"I heard you moaning in your sleep again last night. Galatea?" Lois asked.

"Yeah." Kara nodded. "She's been all over the world the last few months, but for the most part she's hanging out in Bludhaven. She keeps stopping by Dick's apartment, looking on him… but she never gets too close. After what she did, I think she's afraid to confront him. I can't say I blame her."

"At least she isn't doing anything illegal." Lois pointed out.

"Yeah. But… but I can tell her Clone Degeneration is getting worse. I can like, feel it. When I see her in the dreams, it hurts. She's in constant pain, and I can feel it too. And it's getting worse, Lois. She's dying."

"Well maybe-" Lois began to speak, but then her eyes opened wide and she ran back into the bathroom, vomiting some more.

"Ugh! I am never having kids." Kara groaned.

_Meanwhile, at the JLA Watchtower…_

J'onn watched the monitoring screen intently. Even though the League had disbanded, J'onn had opted to stay in the watchtower and keep an eye on things, alerting the heroes whenever he found trouble. But with Mercy in office, J'onn's job had gradually been getting slower and slower. Crime rates were dropping dramatically. Then he spotted the meteor shower that would soon be passing over Earth. And he noticed something was wrong. Hidden among them was a massive meteor that the Earth scientists had apparently missed, and it was on a collision course with Earth!

"A meteor that size will destroy the planet!" J'onn gasped. It would be about a week before it even entered the Earth's atmosphere, but he decided that would signal Batman and Green Lantern, the two most equipped for the job. However as he was preparing to call them, he noticed a strange red glimmer on the meteor. "What is that?" He muttered. Before he could zoom in, the red glimmer vanished into a crater in the meteor. "Very strange. Perhaps I signal Batman… now."

_Meanwhile, in Paris, France…_

"This is beautiful John!" Shayera said from atop the Eiffel Tower.

"I thought you'd like it." John said, putting his arm around her. The lights of Paris really were breathtaking from there. After the League disbanded, John and Shayera decided to take a break from the hero business. A long break. John had not even worn his power ring in nearly three months, something that he got a lot of flack about from the Green Lantern Corps. Shayera had been concealing her wings with straps on her back, and the two of them had been enjoying time in Paris. And Italy, and London, and everywhere else they had decided to go.

They were enjoying being just regular people again. And though they had not actually spoken about it, they had both thought about never going back to their lives as heroes. John wasn't exactly sure how well it would go down if he tried to retire from the Corps, but for now he didn't think about it. For now there was only one thing on his mind. "Shayera, there is another reason I brought you here." He said.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Well, I needed the scenery to be right, because I have something important to ask you." He knelt down on one knee, and pulled out a small black box, opening it up and revealing a ring. "Shayera Hall. Will you marry me?"

Shayera gasped, smiling from ear to ear. Tears of happiness threatened in her eyes. "Yes." She said immediately, and John smiled and put the ring on her finger.

"I thought about painting the ring green, but I figured the novelty wasn't needed here." He chuckled. Then they met in a warm embrace, and remained there for a long, long time.

Eventually John's communicator began to beep. "Uh… It's J'onn." He groaned, answering the communicator. "This isn't a good time, J'onn."

"There is a large meteor headed toward Earth. It could potentially destroy the planet." J'onn warned.

"How long?" John sighed.

"A week."

"Then I'll see you in a week. Maybe."

"But-" J'onn began to protest, but John turned off the communicator, and then dropped it off the tower. He and Shayera returned to their embrace.

_Meanwhile, at the Birds of Prey Headquarters…_

"You've been quiet lately, babe." Oliver Queen said, taking off the Green Arrow mask. He slumped down in the chair next to Black Canary, while she sat surfing the net on the advanced database that The Oracle had created before her untimely death.

"I'm still getting used to this. Being a leader, I mean. Hell, I'm still getting used to the idea that Barbara is dead. And now I'm in charge of the Birds of Prey and… I just don't think I'm ready. I mean, what if I screw up? If anyone on the team dies, it's my fault!" She clasped her hands over her face.

"Hey, you'll do fine Dinah. There hasn't been any crime worth fighting lately anyway. You need a vacation. And I know just the place, if you're interested."

"Olli, you know I can't just leave. I have responsibilities now."

"Oh, we don't mind!" Huntress's voice called. Canary turned around to see the Birds of Prey standing in the doorway, dressed like they were going to Hawaii or something! "We could use a vacation too. It's not like we've actually done anything lately anyway."

"Olli, did you put them up to this?" Canary laughed.

"Actually, Helena put me up to it." Oliver chuckled.

"Huh… ok. Where are we going then?" Canary sighed, giving up.

"There's this new hotel in Gotham, it's got a great view of ocean."

"Gotham? Not exactly the nicest vacation spot, Olli."

"The area we're going is. Wayne Enterprises wanted to make Gotham a bit more of a tourist hot spot, so they donated millions of dollars to basically make Gotham Harbor awesome. I'll show you a brochure later."

_Later that night, on top of Gotham Towers…_

Hippolyta and Diana finally touched down on top of one of the Gotham Towers, the two tallest buildings in Gotham, owned by Wayne Enterprises of course. "Mother, why did you bring me here?" Diana asked.

"We needed a place to speak privately." Hippolyta said.

"About what?" Diana insisted.

"Athena has decreed something to us, my sun and stars. During the battle with that bastard and his army of drones, our numbers were greatly dwindled. There are about an eighth as many Amazons now as there were before." Hippolyta stated.

"I know that. Never before have we held so many funerals for our sisters." Diana said sadly.

"Yes. And we also played into Ares' hands, my dear. Ares has fed, and now he is near his full power. With our numbers so gravely depleted, Athena fears that he may soon attack. And so, Athena has decreed that we must refill our numbers. We are to have children." Hippolyta stated.

"Is this not a good thing? After all you have often said that you would love for me to have had a sister." Diana said.

"Yes… but we must remember what Heracles did. After that terrible event… I fear that many of our sisters will object to this. And forcing them to have men lay with them… I must say that I am not typically pleased with the arrangement either." Hippolyta sighed.

"So what do you wish for me to do, mother? I doubt that I can convince all of them that it would be a good thing." Diana shrugged.

"No, you couldn't. But you can still help. Many of them have no trust in men, Diana. Especially after Heracles. But they have an infinite trust in you! And since you are familiar with so many men… I think we may all benefit if you choose mates for our sisters."

"What?"

"They will trust in your opinion Diana, at the very least it might make them more comfortable with the idea."

"Yes but mother that is not how things work here! I can't simply grab men and tell them to have children with our sisters!"

"They would have no role in the child's lives whatsoever. With that knowledge, they should be excited."

"I don't know about this mother." Diana shook her head.

"Think about it. And please, think quickly, for Ares could attack at any time. We have to begin very soon."

"I understand."

"And also, Diana, you too are an Amazon in blood. Athena will expect you to contribute as well."

"You mean I should have children too?" Diana gasped.

"You already have a mate, do you not? The one who dresses like a bat."

"His name is Bruce. And I don't really think we're ready for that yet, I mean-"

"Like I said, think Diana. But remember that every choice has consequences."

_Meanwhile, on an old cruise ship…_

"This isn't exactly the most adequate base, Ultraman." The Justice Lord's version of Batman said.

"I know. But for now it's all we have. This world still thinks you and Quick are dead, and that will be a huge advantage to us." Ultraman said, looking out into the ocean. The remaining three Justice Lords, Ultraman, an alternate Batman, and Johnny Quick, had taken refuge on a cruise ship that had been lost in the Bermuda triangle. The inhabitants of the ship were long dead, and they had been floating around under the radar for three months.

"I thought you guys had a plan?" Johnny Quick groaned.

"We do." Ultraman said.

"Well it's been three months on this damn ship and we haven't done anything yet! If you've got a plan, when is it going to happen?"

"When it's time." Ultraman snapped. Then he looked up into the sky. "Don't worry Quick… the eclipse will be here soon."

_Meanwhile, at Stryker's Island Maximum Security Prison…_

Four armed guards walked toward the detention cell, guarding the new Warden at Stryker's Island, whom they called Lock-Up. Lock-Up had worked at both Blackgate Prison and Arkham Asylum, but recently he had been made Warden at Stryker's Island, and was doing a pretty good job.

They made their way over to the detention cell, which had not been opened in three months. The detention cell was basically a locker. If a prisoner got into too much trouble, they would have to stay in the detention cell for a while. The only food they received were the leftovers from lunch, which were pushed in through a small slot in the back.

Most prisoners who got put in the detention cell were only in for three days at most, but this current prisoner had been there for three months, because he had actually killed the last Warden!

"Be careful Lock-Up. This guy's dangerous." One of the guard's said.

"I'm well aware of that. But I think I might thank him. After all, if he hadn't murdered the Warden before me, I wouldn't have this job right now." Lock-Up chuckled, fumbling with his keys. He took the key and unlocked the detention cell, finally releasing the prisoner.

"Jason Todd. You're out." Lock-Up said.

"Bout' time." Jason grumbled, pushing passed the Warden, his shackles clattering as he did so. Shackles were added to his hands, and he was taken out into the work zone. Here, it was the classic practice of hacking away at rocks with pick-axes. Prisoners really hated this job. Jason was released into the courtyard.

"Now get to work punk." Lock-Up barked.

"Sure thing. But Warden… you might want to get out of my face, before I've got a pick-ax in my hands." Jason grinned. Lock-Up immediately walked away. Jason grabbed a pick-ax and began hacking away.

Soon his "friend" Garfield Lynns walked up. Garfield was another prisoner, better known as the villain Firefly.

"Hey Jason!" Garfield shouted, patting his buddy on the shoulder. "Finally outta' detention huh? Welcome back to hell."

"Anything interesting happen while I was in there?" Jason asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.

"Oh yeah. Check out the new inmate." Garfield grinned, nodding to the right. Jason looked over and, to his surprise, saw Lex Luthor chiseling away at a stone!

"No way." Jason grinned. "Luthor finally got locked up. That means something epic must have happened on the outside." Jason turned and looked into the sky. "I have got to know what it was. I'm getting out this hellhole."


	2. Blackout

Chapter Two: Blackout 

Bruce sat in front of the monitor of his computer intently, watching the gigantic meteor approach Earth. It was the size of a small island… how the hell had scientists missed this? Maybe they hadn't. Maybe they just thought it would detour along with the rest of the meteors in the shower, if that was the case then they had obviously done the math wrong. This thing was going to smash right into North America in a couple days! Bruce sat pondering how to effectively destroy the meteor before it became a problem, when his cell phone rang loudly next to him, startling him.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Bruce, where the hell are you?" Diana's voice said angrily on the other end.

"In the cave… am I supposed to be somewhere else?" He asked, confused.

"Yes! Bruce do you even know what day it is?"

"Well when I came down here it was Sunday. It might be Monday by now, I'm not sure."

"Yeah it's Monday right now! And it's nine o'clock in the morning! You're supposed to be here interviewing me!" She snapped. Bruce's eyes opened wide. He had completely forgotten about Diana's job interview.

"Damn it!" He exclaimed, putting his hand to his forehead. "Alright well, I do own the company. I suppose I could move your interview to the bottom of the list… around eleven. I'll get cleaned up and head down there."

"So what am I supposed to do for two hours then?"

"I don't know, see a movie or something." Then Bruce hung up and headed back into the mansion, practically sprinting into the shower. He knew Diana was really on edge, and his tardiness probably wasn't helping. There were other interviewers there, of course. In fact, the entire board at Wayne Enterprises was going to be giving the interviews, and then vote on the best person for the role ambassador. After he had finished his shower, he stepped out and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, realizing that he really needed to shave. And he also realized that he looked different… he couldn't quite figure out what it was, but he just looked… better. Maybe there was something to this happiness thing after all.

Around a half hour later, he had arrived at the boardroom where the interviews would begin. "You're late, Mr. Wayne." An older board member pointed out.

"My apologies. I slept in." Bruce said politely, taking a seat.

_"Probably hung-over." _He heard someone whisper. He could help but grin. Bruce's persona as a bored billionaire playboy really did fool people. The first candidate arrived, and the interviewing began. After a while Bruce stopped paying attention, all of the applicants were boring to him. They were all too by-the-book. If Wayne Enterprises was going to revolutionize the world, then their ambassador could not be by-the-book. They had to be able to think outside the box. And so far they had not interviewed anyone who seemed to have that ability.

Then, about an hour into the interviewing, all the lights died! The various laptops in the room shut off as well.

"What the hell?" A board member shouted. Bruce looked out the window and saw that it was not just that room. All of Gotham seemed to suddenly loose power! After about twenty seconds, the power miraculously came back on.

"Mr. Wayne… I thought this building had backup generators?" A man asked.

"It does." Bruce nodded.

"Then why didn't they kick on when the power went down?"

"I have no idea."

_Meanwhile, in the JLA Watchtower…_

J'onn sat lazily in the watchtower when suddenly a blackout seemed to occur. All of the lights, computers, and television just suddenly died. "What on Earth…? The watchtower runs on solar power!" After around twenty seconds, the power came back on. But an alarm went off in what had used to be Batman's private quarters… an alarm signaling that the watchtower computer system had been infected! Data had somehow been stolen.

_Meanwhile, at LexCorp International…_

Hope, another of Luthor's old assistants, had been put in charge of LexCorp. And much like Mercy in the Presidential office, Hope was doing a pretty good job of cleaning up the company's act. On this particular morning, she had finally managed to crack some of Luthor's passwords. So now she sat reading some of Luthor's most top secret documents. Most of them were deluded, twisted, but brilliant plans for destroying his enemies and so on. Luthor also had saved formulas for a cure for cancer, and things like that.

"My God Lex… what else were you hiding?" Hope groaned as she rummaged through her old boss's computer. Then she found a particularly guarded file, titled OMEGA. "What's this?" She spent a while breaking the code to get in. From what she read, it was some sort of advanced cloning technology, but before she could read anymore, the power suddenly shut off. After about twenty seconds, it came back on, but the OMEGA file was gone!

_Meanwhile, back at the boardroom…_

Bruce's pocket alarm began buzzing. He sneaked a peak at it underneath the table, checking the alert it was giving him. Apparently something had infected the computer systems in the batcave! This should have been impossible. With the protection software Bruce had designed, no virus should have been able to get through.

At the same time, he received a call from J'onn, telling an eerily similar story. Bruce saw the board members settling down after the power outage. "I have to hang up J'onn. But I'll definitely look into this." Bruce said, putting away the phone. "Excuse me gentlemen, something has come up. I trust that you can finish these interviews without me."

Bruce then left the boardroom and headed to the batcave, to find out exactly what had caused that power outage… and what information had been hijacked from his system.

_Later, in the Hotel Du Louvre in Paris…_

Shayera woke up next to John. As she repositioned herself for comfort, she saw the ring on her finger. And she smiled immediately. They were finally getting married. She couldn't help but wonder just how it would work out, though, if they both continued their crime fighting careers. It could definitely put a strain on things. Maybe they could both just quit, and run off together and live a happy, normal life… but deep down Shayera knew that was impossible. It was unlikely that the Corps would just let John quite, and you can't exactly run away from the Green Lantern Corps either. And as for her… she still felt like she owed something to Earth. She felt like she owed humanity for what her people had done. Her race had nearly destroyed the entire planet, and Shayera had almost been a part of it! She still felt horrible, and she still felt like she needed to repay the world for what she had done. She knew that her and John could never just give up their lives as heroes. They weren't normal people, and it would never work out if they pretended to be.

She rolled out of bed, out from under the arm of the still sleeping John. She looked at the clock in the room and saw that it was flashing 12:00. "Weird… the power must have gone out." She muttered, heading in to take a shower.

John woke up when the water started. He sat up in the bed, and thought about joining Shayera in the shower, but decided against it. Why, he wasn't exactly sure, it just didn't seem like a good time. He stood up and stretched, immediately wanting to take a walk. He quickly scribbled down a note telling Shayera where he had gone. Then he got dressed and headed out for a quick stroll through Paris, thinking about the woman who would soon be his wife.

After several minutes of walking, he stopped on a wooden boardwalk and looked out into a lake. This early in the morning, the area was void of any other people. Then there was a sudden breeze behind him, and a swishing sound. "What the…?" He muttered. He glanced back and saw strange, very fast movements in the grass behind him. "Hmmm." He pulled an old candy wrapper out of his pocket and tossed it behind him casually. There the sudden crunch of a foot on the wrapper. "Hah!" John exclaimed, spinning around and swinging his arm. As expected, he struck a solid figure. The man fell down and tumbled across the boardwalk. A super-speedster! "Who are you and-" John began to demand, but then he saw the familiar bright reddish hair, the stupid happy-go lucky grin, and the bright eyes. Wally West, better known as The Flash!

"Wally?"

"Hey John. How's it going?" Wally said awkwardly. John grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against a tree.

"What the hell are you doing?" John barked.

"Chill out! I was just checking up on you and Shayera!" Wally protested.

"You mean stalking?" John shoved Wally to the side.

"Maybe a little… sorry, I've just been really bored lately."

"How long have you been following us around?"

"Like, a day." Wally shrugged. "I've been running around the world lately, just trying to find some excitement, you know? And I happened to come to Paris a couple days ago, and I noticed you and Shayera walking around."

"So instead of walking up and saying hi, you just followed us around?"

"Like I said, I'm looking for excitement. And believe me; stalking is way more exciting than a casual conversation." Wally grinned.

"You are an idiot." John turned around, shaking his head.

"Sorry. It's just… since the League disbanded, I've been lonely as hell. And you and Shayera looked like you were having a good time together so… I didn't want to interrupt, you know?"

"What about Linda? You can spend time with her can't you?"

"We've been fighting lately." Wally shrugged, plopping down on the boardwalk.

"About what?"

"Well let's just say… I no longer have a job, and she's pissed."

"What? You got fired from KCPD?"

"Yeah, turns out with their new maintenance drones they don't really need a mechanic anymore. I'm out of work, and Linda suddenly turned into a bitch-of-the-year nominee."

"Are you not even looking for work, then?" John asked, sitting down next to Wally.

"Well I've looked around a bit, but it's not easy, you know? I mean, I've pretty much had one job my entire life, and I'm lucky I held that as long as I did."

"But Linda's supported every stupid thing you've done before, why freak out on you know?" John was skeptical of Wally's take on the story.

"I don't know man. She's been acting really weird lately; I don't know what her deal is." Wally shrugged. "So what about you? How's it going."

"Pretty good I'd say." John smiled. "I asked Shayera to marry me last night."

"What?" Wally gasped.

"Yup. Proposed to her on top of the Eifel Tower."

"That's awesome! So you're finally getting married?"

"Yes I am."

"Well welcome to hell my friend!" Wally laughed, punching John in the arm. John laughed too. "You know what GL, I'm gonna throw you a bachelor party."

"I don't think so Wally."

"Not like a stupid have-a-few-friends-get-together bachelor party, I'm talking an epic, badass party with strippers and beer and gambling!"

"No thanks, West. That's not really my idea of a good time."

"Oh come on Stewart! You're an alcoholic for crying out loud!"

"Former alcoholic, thank you."

"Dude, think about it a minute. You're always so uptight and serious, if you don't let some of the wild out before you get married, then you're bound to do stupid stuff after the wedding, and then the marriage will fail!"

"Your knowledge of relationships is staggering, Wally." John said sarcastically.

"Come on man, I won't invite anybody who you don't put on the guest list! I promise!"

"Huh… alright. But no strippers."

"What? Then what fun is a bachelor party!"

"I'm serious Wally."

"Fine. So when and where do you want this to go down?"

"I don't know. Shayera and I haven't even started talking about a wedding date yet. We just know it's going to happen."

"That's fine; I've obviously got a lot of free time on my hands now. Just whenever you're ready."

Suddenly John was very quiet, and a dark shadow rolled into his eyes.

"John? What's wrong?"

"It's just… I- I kind of always wanted Clark to be my best man." John sighed.

"Oh. That sucks… yeah. I can't believe how bad he ended up."

"Even the best of men can be corrupted. Clark proved that. But… I don't know. It just doesn't feel right, knowing that the man I had called friend, tried to kill me. And more than once, too."

"It's rough. No doubt." Wally nodded. They were silent for a long moment. Then a light glimmered in Wally's eyes. "Hey, this might be inappropriate but I just have to ask… with Shayera, what's the sex like? I mean, do the wings ever get in the way?"

"Wally West, you are truly a dumbass." John sighed, standing up. "I guess I should get back to the hotel, Shayera's probably done in the shower by now."

"Yeah. I should get back home before Linda burns all of my possession." Wally groaned, standing up reluctantly. "See you around, John." He began to walk away.

"Hey, Wally…"

"Yeah?"

"It's actually kind of nice… the wings flutter the whole time."

"Sweet." Wally chuckled, and then sped off. John began walking back to the hotel.

_Meanwhile, in a Hotel and Spa near Gotham Bay…_

Dinah, a.k.a. Black Canary, smiled when she saw Helena and Vic walking together (Huntress and Question). The two of them were definitely an awkward couple, but a good one at that. The water was warm and tranquil, and she felt more relaxed than she had in months. Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up into the air.

"Ah!" She laughed. "Olli put me down!"

"See? This isn't so bad is it?" Oliver asked, tossing her into the hot tub.

"No, I feel great, actually." She admitted.

"That feeling is called 'fun,' dear. Something you seem to have forgotten about." Oliver chuckled, sliding into the hot tub across from her.

"I know, I know. And this really is fun… but…"

"But?"

"I just have a bad feeling. Something really bad is going to happen soon Olli, I can just feel it."

"You know what your problem is? You worry way too much. Just because we're heroes doesn't mean we can't be regular people too, and regular people don't constantly have to deal with doom and gloom and all that crap. Just lay off the paranoia and enjoy yourself a little!"

"I don't know Olli… this is different. The weird twenty-second blackout earlier, the meteor shower and the big three-day eclipse coming up, I don't know. I just have a really bad feeling. Something bad is coming."

_Later that night, in Bludhaven…_

Dick Grayson, better known as Nightwing, leapt from rooftop to rooftop, a silhouette against the night sky. He was currently tracking down a large drug trade. Though crime had slowly been declining, the remaining crime family's were beginning to pool together and form a stronger organization. Recently, a new drug had come out on the streets, called Shield. Why it was called that, he had no idea.

Shield was in some ways, an advanced form of Venom. It was completely undetectable, not even police dogs could pick it up. Dick had learned about it through Johnny "Two-Tone" Thompson. The thug had worked for Joker, Two-Face, and Penguin all at different points in time. Now he was working for Thorn, as his top transporter of Shield. Dick knew that if Johnny was involved it meant steady criminal work, Johnny never operated solo.

After breaking Johnny's arm, Dick had also learned about that some outsider group was paying the family big money to rip off the genetic testing research that had been funded by Roland Dagget, before Bruce Wayne had sent the amoral business man to prison. Whoever was paying for the genetic modification research was smart enough use mob connections, thus leaving themselves nearly untraceable. Nearly.

But now Dick sat quietly in wait, watching a deal go down. "If you want to find a thief, follow his money." Dick muttered as he watched the harbor down below. Soon two large SUV's had arrived, and groups of armed men stepped out of each. From the first van stepped one of Thorn's cronies. Thorn had been too much of a coward to show up in person. From the second SUV came a man dressed completely in black, wearing a mask over his face.

"You got the stuff?" The masked man asked.

"Yup. All the research Dagget left behind is on this." The crony said, withdrawing a small computer disc. "You got the money?"

"Of course." The masked man nodded, and two of the thugs behind him stepped forward with large black briefcases. The briefcases were opened, revealing that they were completely full with hundred dollar bills.

"Nice." The crony smiled, reaching out for the briefcases. This was when Nightwing chose to act, when their guard would be at its lowest. He threw out a birderang that sliced a crane-cable which had been holding up a bundle of large metal storage crates. The crates came crashing to the ground merely feet away from the criminals!

"What the hell!" The guy with the disc screamed, immediately taking cover inside the SUV.

Nightwing came in from the opposite direction that the crates had fallen and kicked down two unsuspecting guards. Two left. They opened fire on the hero, but he dove behind their vehicle and they riddled their own SUV with bullet holes! Nightwing rolled a smoke pellet underneath the vehicle, and it went off on the other side, blinding the thugs. Nightwing leapt in and took them down quickly. Then he easily struck down the guy with the disc, but found that the disc was gone!

He turned and saw the guy with the mask sliding it into some sort of scanner device. Nightwing whipped out a birderang and sliced the scanner. "Too late, kid. The data was already transmitted." The man threw down the disc like it were worthless now, breaking it on the concrete. "My work here is done. And so are you."

Nightwing tackled the man to the ground, but then the mask fell off, revealing a timer… no, a countdown clock… currently at 00:6! The man was some sort of suicide-bombing robot! Nightwing and leapt back. The explosion took place. Shrapnel sprayed into his back, causing unbelievable pain. Blood sprayed, and he was blasted violently across the ground, streaking his own blood behind him. As his vision began to blur, he saw a chunk of metal left over from the robot. Engraved in the metal was the word SHIELD.

"SHIELD… what the hell…?" Everything was fading into darkness now. He could faintly hear footsteps behind him. The last thing he saw before blacking out, was a blonde haired woman reaching down toward him. Then everything was dark.

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

"Bruce will you get off the computer? Whatever infected your system, it's gone now." Diana groaned.

"This virus managed to bypass all of my security within a matter of seconds, and simultaneously stole information. Something like that doesn't just disappear." Bruce argued.

"What about the blackout? Your security would have been down during that time right, maybe it's just something small that managed to get through then." She shrugged.

"About the Blackout… that's even stranger. It wasn't just a localized incident. It happened here, Paris, Bludhaven, LexCorp, and the JLA Watchtower. Each blackout lasted only twenty seconds, and in most cases some data was hijacked. Something like that doesn't just happen, it can't be coincidence. Something, or more likely someone, managed to hack the most unbreakable security systems on the planet and cause massive blackouts as a distraction. I need to find out who." Bruce explained.

"Huh… well when you're ready to be a normal human being again, give me a call ok?" Diana kissed Bruce on the cheek and then left the cave.

_Meanwhile, at a Cadmus Operations Base…_

"Ms. Waller, take a look at this." A man at the monitor said.

"What now? And unless it's good news, I don't want to here another thing about that damn blackout earlier today." Amanda said, moving over to the monitor.

"You know that massive meteor we've been tracking?" He asked.

"Yes. What about it?"

"Well we had a drone up in space to examine it today, you really need to see the footage."

"Well show me then."

"Will do." The man began to the play the footage. There was the camera view from a robot, landing on the meteor.

"What's so special about this?"

"Wait for it."

Suddenly, a demonic red flash blazed across the screen, and then the robot was ripped apart, a wicked laughter sounding the whole time!

"What the hell was that?" Amanda asked.

"Not sure. But Ms. Waller, you should know that that footage I just played… it was slowed down as much as I could get it, just to see that red blur. Whatever destroyed that robot, it was moving at the speed of sound!"

_Earlier that day, on Ryker's Island…_

Lunch at Ryker's was served a bit late that day, due to the strange blackout earlier. Jason Todd and Garfield Lynns sat down at their table on in the corner. No one else dared sit near them. Garfield was a nobody, but Jason… Jason had a reputation. Nobody ever dared mess with Jason. He was the only prisoner who didn't share a cell. He had killed all of his cellmates he had ever been given, and thus gained his "very own bedroom," as he called it. The two of them looked over at Lex Luthor, also sitting as his own table.

"Why hasn't anybody roughed him up yet? Everybody else got a beating when they first showed up here!" Garfield complained.

"Think about it, moron. This is Lex Luthor we're talking about, the man who can get you killed the moment he's sick of you. He's probably filled more graveyards than anybody else here." Jason stated.

"I'm just surprised he is still locked up. Seems like he would have figured out some way to get out by now."

"He's planning something."

"How do you know, Todd?"

"I know his type. He had a plan and a backup plan ready before he even got his mug shot, I can guarantee it."

Lunch time was almost over now, the windows in the kitchen would soon close up and they would all be taken back to their cells.

"Looks like it's about time to execute that plan of our own." Garfield smiled.

"You sure you want to go threw with this?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, I can take a hit or two if it means freedom. Go ahead Todd."

Jason nodded, and then they put their plan into action. "Follow my lead." He whispered. "WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DRANK THE MILK?" Jason screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Yeah I drank it! What'r you gonna do about it you little bitch?" Garfield shouted back.

"That was my milk! My milk you stupid ass!" Jason then punched Garfield hard in the face. Garfield fell to the floor with blood leaking out of his mouth. Jason jumped over the table and began punching him repeatedly in the face violently. Soon two guards had pried him off.

"Settle down Todd!" One of the guards punched him. "You don't want to end up back in detention cell already, do you?"

"Hey man he's stealing from me! If anybody's going to detention cell, it should be him!" Jason pointed down at the bleeding Garfield, who then let out a moan.

"I think he's hurt." The other guard said.

"Yeah no shit he's hurt, I just pounded his skull in!" Jason screamed.

"You're on my last nerve Todd! And-" The guard was interrupted by another moan.

"Look man, you want to stand here yelling at me, or do you want to get Garfield here to the infirmary? Lock-Up wouldn't be happy to lose a good worker like him, you know." Jason pointed out.

"Watch yourself Todd." The guard snarled, and they carried Garfield to the infirmary.

Jason grinned and glanced down at his hand, concealing a tazer which he had stolen off one of the two guards during the commotion. He then quietly snuck across the room and climbed through the window into the kitchen. There was only one cook on duty today, perfect.

"Hey, you can't be in here-" The cook began to protest before Jason jammed the tazer into her throat, killing her. He then took a large, sharp knife from the counter, and slid it up underneath his sleeve. The cufflinks he was forced to wear were helping, they made it much easier to conceal the knives inside his sleeve without the use of his hands. As he was sliding a second knife in, he accidentally cut the top of his hand, and blood began to trickle. He ignored it. He snuck silently out of the kitchen. The window would be closed the rest of the day, no one would even know the cook was dead until tomorrow morning. By then Jason would be long gone.

The prisoners headed back to their cells in a single file line, stopping briefly at a checkpoint to make sure all prisoners were present. When Jason arrived at the checkpoint, he was stopped.

"Hey, hold a second Todd." The guard said. Jason immediately froze, and felt sweat beading up on his brow. Had he been caught?

"How'd you get that cut on your hand, Jason?" The guard asked.

"Oh… huh, that…" Jason tried to hide his relief. "It happened out in the field today; I wasn't careful with my pick-ax and gashed my hand."

"You should get that checked out in the infirmary; we don't want it getting infected." The guard said.

"I'll be sure to do that." Jason nodded, continuing forward in the line. "Idiot…" He muttered. "They're just making it too easy."


	3. The End of Peace

Chapter Three: The End of Peace

The masked man sent by Cadmus examined the group that would become Shield, humanity's ultimate defense against the metas. Among the group was the infamous mafia enforcer known as Breaker. Breaker got his name for systematically breaking the bones of his victims, eventually breaking every bone in the body. And he took great pleasure in the act, too. Breaker had been put on Death Row, and was quick to accept the offer to join Shield. His vast knowledge of the human anatomy, combined with his nearly inhuman reflexes and fighting skills, made him a powerful weapon in the field of combat.

Next in the line of selected offenders was a young woman known as Denise Le'Sure, a pretty girl from a rich family. But luxury wasn't the life for her, instead she enjoyed the thrill of killing every living being who crossed her path. She had been married seven times, six of them ending in the husband mysteriously dying… She was an expert in deceit, a pro con-woman. She could get dirt on anyone, and she knew how to use it for her own manipulative, sadistic little pleasures.

Also in the group was Fastball, a young villain with a hover-board and a taste for bombs. Bronze Tiger was present as well; ready to lend his martial arts skills to the team. The hero known as The Guardian had also taken a spot among Shield, having long been involved with Cadmus.

Also in the team was the criminal known as Plastique, currently stripped of her powers but still a master of everything explosive. And finally, there was False Face, the ultimate master of disguise.

The six of them were currently the members of Shield, but the team would likely grow as more candidates became available.

"So this whole genetic alteration thing… exactly what will it do for us?" Breaker asked.

"With the modifications made by Cadmus scientists, it should put you on par with the Justice League and any other metas who you cross paths with. Your bones will be coated with a steel-polymer, making them virtually indestructible. Your skin cells will be reinforced as well, making it impossible for any bladed weapons, or even small caliber bullets, to break your skin. Your physical prowess will be greatly increased as well. Your strength should be sufficient to lift around twenty tons with little effort, your speed will be second only to the Flash, and your reflexes will be even faster. And that's just with the first dose of the formula…" The man said.

"And what happens when we get the second dose?" Breaker asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well it will be about a week before your body adjusts enough to survive the second injection, but then… then you will unstoppable. Let's just leave it at that."

"Unstoppable sounds pretty good to me." Breaker smiled.

The machines began lowering to inject the subjects with the genetic modification serum.

"Is it going to hurt?" Denise La'Sure asked.

"Well, do you mean the injection, or the aftereffects?" The man asked.

"Both."

"The injection should only hurt for a moment… after that however, the pain will be… excruciating. Much of your genetic structure will be reshaped, it will likely be the worst pain you've ever felt. But I promise you, the end result is worth it."

"Hmm… well no matter how bad it is, it's gotta be better than the electric chair. I'm up for it." Breaker nodded. No one else objected either.

The machines injected the serum. It was just like getting a shot, a quick prick, and then it was over. There was calmness.

"Did it work?" False Face asked. "I don't feel any-… OH GOD!" He suddenly shrieked, his eyes opening wide, his skin paling, his body shaking. The same quickly happened to the rest of the subjects, as they dropped the floor screaming in agony.

"Can't we put them to sleep or something?" A doctor asked.

"No. The transformation will only work properly if they are conscious. They'll just have to suffer through it." The masked man said. Then he and the doctor left the room, leaving the test subjects to suffer until the transformation was complete.

_Meanwhile, at Ryker's Island…_

Jason pressed the emergency alarm in his cell, which meant that he was experiencing some sort of medical issue and needed assistance. Once the buzzer went off, he took one of the knives he had been concealing and cut his wrist, spraying blood all over the wall. A guard came and peered into the window on Jason's cell door, gasping at all the blood. He quickly opened the door.

"Todd? What the hell's the matter with-" The guard began to ask, when Jason sprung up and slashed the guard's neck, killing him. He then quickly switched his outfit with the guard's, and laid the dead guard in the prison jumpsuit on his bed.

Disguised as a guard, Jason snuck out into the hall and closed the door, heading toward the infirmary.

Garfield shuffled around in the infirmary. His minor beating from Jason had allowed him access to the many chemicals in the infirmary. Including either, one of his favorites. He had used the either to knock out the guards in the area, and then patiently waited for Jason. His partner in crime soon arrived, clad in a guard uniform which he had used to move effortlessly through the hallways.

"Took you long enough, Jason. I've been waiting twenty minutes."

"I had to wait until the guards rotated shift. That way there won't be any new guards in the hallways anytime soon, and we have more time to get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a genius. Now let's bust out of this hellhole."

"Way ahead of you."

After several minutes, the two had made their way down into the lower east sewer tunnel, where they began trudging through the water. There was an automated boat leaving around midnight. No driver. The boat was programmed to dock at Metropolis, where food and medical supplies would be loaded into the boat, and then it would go back to Stryker's.

Jason and Garfield planned to hitch a ride on the ship, and get off at Metropolis. Eventually they made their way out of the sewer tunnel and onto the coast of Stryker's Island. There they immediately ducked down to avoid spotlights. Jason spotted the boat about a mile down the shore; it would leave in about fifteen minutes. He and Garfield had more than enough time. They began running toward the vessel.

"This is so easy!" Garfield shouted.

"Too easy." Jason nodded uncertainly.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out. Jason and Garfield jumped to the ground, taking cover. Jason looked up to see a tall man with a good build and a buzz cut, looking down on them with a gun in his hand.

"Who the hell is this?" Garfield gasped.

"The name's Roy Harper." The man said. "But you can call me Arsenal."

"Harper… wait a minute…" Jason muttered. "Roy Harper! I know you! You were Green Arrow's sidekick. You went by Speedy, right?"

"Yeah. But that was a long, long time ago. Now I'm picking up the old man's slack! Green Arrow was working as chief of security here at Stryker's, as part of Lex Luthor's Superhuman Police Force. But then when Superman went rogue, Olli bailed. So I took his place. I need the money anyway." Arsenal said.

"Why? Did the price of heroin go up?" Jason taunted.

"Shut up Todd. I've been clean for a long time now."

"Right… is that why your arm looks like Swiss cheese?" Jason raised an eyebrow, looking at the countless punctures in Arsenal's arm where the needle had been used. Arsenal immediately pulled his sleeve down, covering it up.

"It's none of your business." He narrowed his eyes.

"You're looking good for a heroin addict though… you've got that great build and everything… how do you do it?" Jason continued.

"It's not heroin." Arsenal sighed. "Not anymore. It's something way better… and way more expensive. So I guess I've gotta do my job, now don't I?" He threw the gun down and drew his bow, immediately readying an arrow.

"There's the good old Speedy." Jason chuckled.

"Don't call me Speedy!" Arsenal fired, and Jason threw a knife. The arrow and the knife clashed, both spinning to the ground. Jason and Garfield immediately separated, Garfield going left, Jason going right.

Arsenal picked Jason out as the bigger threat, and began firing arrows in his direction. But his accuracy seemed off, and Jason managed to dodge them all. "What the hell is this Speedy? You used to be able to shoot a fly from across the room! Now you can't even hit a guy thirty feet away from you?"

"Shut up!" Arsenal continued to fire, and Jason continued to dodge, moving in the archer's direction the whole way. Once Jason was in range, he jumped and kicked Arsenal in the jaw, then spun around and hit him in the chest. Arsenal fell to the ground, coughing.

"Come on Speedy, you can't even dodge anymore?"

"Stop calling me that!" Arsenal kicked and struck Jason in the face, sending him stumbling back. Garfield came around back, so Arsenal grabbed him and threw him into Jason. "Don't call me that name! I – hate – that – name!"

"Temper, temper." Jason shook his head. Arsenal attacked, but Jason grabbed his wrist and flipped him onto the ground, holding his arm against his back. "You're really slowing down Harper. No wonder you changed your name. 'Speedy' doesn't really fit you anymore, does it?"

Then another gunshot rang out, and a bullet grazed Jason's shoulder. "Figures." Jason winced, looking back to see a group of guards.

He ran in with his last two knives drawn, and in a flash impaled one through the chest. Another started to fire, but Jason took him down before he could even aim. He began flipping around with grace and precision, slashing each guard down with ease. A few seconds later, he was on the run again.

Arsenal began to stand. "You're not getting away Todd…" He huffed, taking a hypodermic needle from his pocket. The needle was labeled 'shield.' He stuck the needle into his arm and injected the drug known as shield, and immediately felt its effects.

Suddenly Arsenal burst into a nearly superhuman sprint! He was running at nearly sixty miles an hour, and didn't seem to be tiring at all! He quickly caught up to Jason and Garfield, and picked them each up with one arm! He then threw them across the beach, rolling painfully. Jason glanced up to see the boat taking off. It was still about two hundred feet away.

"No… no I'm not missing my ride!" Jason barked, flipping up to his feet. More guards were showing up. Jason grabbed Garfield, stuck a knife in his hand, and threw him into the mix. The guards immediately tackled Garfield, momentarily ignoring Jason. Jason sprinted passed them.

"Jason! Jason where are you going? You're not just gonna leave me here… Jason you son of a bitch! Get back here! Jason!" Garfield was screaming, and then he was tazed

and passed out, betrayed by the one he had called friend.

A blockade of guards formed, blocking Jason's path. One of them had a powerful water cannon that would take any human down with ease. Jason threw a knife, and it stuck into one of the guard's throats! He then sprung off of this dying guard's shoulders, and landed behind the guy with the water cannon, jamming his last knife into his spine! Jason then grabbed the cannon and sprayed down the guards. Arsenal was coming his way. Jason pulled out the tazer he had stolen earlier.

He fired a blast of water and struck Arsenal. Then he turned on the tazer and touched it to the stream. Immediately Arsenal shrieked as the electrified current of water fried him. Soon Arsenal fell down, a mere two feet away from Jason. Jason picked up the needle Arsenal had used. "Shield? What the hell is this stuff?" But then he remembered the boat. He stuffed the needle into his pocket, and then broke into a mad sprint, chasing after the boat. He got up to a high point and leapt off, sailing through the air. He quickly began to descend, and grabbed onto the very edge of the boat, dangling over the side.

After a moment of struggling, he hoisted himself up onto the main deck. He quickly made his way to the automated control system, and ripped out the transmitter to Stryker's. That way they would not be able to shut the boat down. Jason then altered the vessel's course, so that it wouldn't dock where it was supposed to. That way there wouldn't be cops waiting for him.

Then he sighed and sat back, smiling. "I'm free."

_Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor…_

Diana was leaving Wayne Manor when she heard a noise upstairs. "What's that?" She muttered, looking up the stairwell. Cautiously, she began moving up the stairs, following the continuing noise. Once up the stairs, she determined that the noise was coming from a room rarely used now. Dick Grayson's old bedroom!

She slowly opened the door and peered inside. There was a gasp in the room. She had surprised someone. Diana looked and saw Dick lying on his old bed, his costume in tatters, covered in his own blood. He was unconscious. And then she saw the woman who had brought him in.

She had short blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a look of cynicism that could only belong to one person. Galatea!

"You!" Diana shouted, rushing into the room. "What did you do?" She looked down at Dick.

"It- It wasn't me! I was just-" Galatea began to protest, when Diana punched at her. Galatea managed to block, and met Diana with her own punch, sending the woman flying into a bookcase. "Diana wait a minute please!" Galatea held up her arms, and Diana saw that her left arm was almost completely decayed away. And she could tell it had already begun to spread onto the rest of her body. The clone degeneration was spreading.

"What happened to Dick? I want the truth." Diana said, calming down.

"I don't know all the details, I just know that he was caught in an explosion while breaking up some kind of deal. He's hurt. I brought him here because I didn't know where else I could go. He needs help, now." Galatea pleaded.

After a moment of consideration, Diana nodded. Galatea seemed sincere. "I'll get Bruce." She said.

"Thank you." Galatea said, a grateful smile breaking across her lips. Galatea looked at Dick sadly for a moment, and then began to head back out the window.

"You don't want to stick around?" Diana asked.

"It's not that I don't want to… I just don't want to face Bruce right now. And to be honest, I want to face Dick even less." Galatea said, a heavy sadness in her voice.

"I understand. But Galatea…"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to keep running, you know. We can get you help."

"I know. I just don't think I deserve it." Galatea then flew off.

Diana ran down and told Bruce what had happened. Soon Dick was in the medical lab in the batcave, with Alfred tending to his wounds, and Bruce watching tentatively.

"And Galatea brought him in?" Bruce asked skeptically.

"Yeah. She seemed really scared, too. I suppose she should be, the clone degeneration is spreading."

"I doubt that's why she was scared to be here. She could have killed Dick and me." Bruce then began suiting up in the Batman costume.

"Bruce? What are you doing?" Diana asked as Bruce became Batman for the first time in almost a week.

"What needs to be done." Batman said vaguely, climbing into the batmobile and rocketing off.

_Meanwhile, at a Cadmus base…_

Amanda Waller called Lock-Up angrily. Cadmus owned a large share of Stryker's Island, so she had heard about the break up quickly. "Mr. Lock-Up… am I to understand that Jason Todd is now off the island?"

"Yes ma'am. He hijacked a cargo boat. We are currently unable to find him." Lock-Up said uncertainly.

"Tell me Lock-Up, how does one man take down the entire guard staff of a maximum security prison?"

"I don't think you understand Ms. Waller."

"Then enlighten me. What the hell happened warden?"

"Well… watch the footage Ms. Waller." Lock-Up then hung up.

Impatiently, Amanda watched the security footage of Jason's escape. As she saw him single handedly take down the armed guards with just a pair of knives, her eyes widened. "Interesting…" She muttered. Then she began to make another phone call.

_Meanwhile, on an Island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean…_

Roland Dagget tampered with his computers, humming with a grin on his face. He looked at the woman on the operating table happily. She had just been laying around in all the rubble after the war with the Superman Drones in Metropolis just three months ago.

After the battle had ended, Roland had sifted through the wreckage of the battle, and was glad to have found this woman. He assumed that she was some sort of clone of Wonder Woman, for she looked exactly like her. She had been comatose since he found her, but today he hoped to wake her up. After all, no better way to get to the top than have a bodyguard with the power of Wonder Woman!

Of course he would need to wipe her mind too, make her a mindless drone. That's what the data he had stolen was for. Yes, Roland Dagget had caused the twenty second worldwide blackout! That was just a distraction to hijack the information he would need. A combination of cloning information and mind-wiping techniques. He had put it all together, and had come up with the perfect formula for creating his own army of mindless Wonder Woman soldiers. Of course there was clone degeneration to worry about, but with all the data he had compiled, he was nearly certain he had found a way to cure that.

There was a rustling on the bed, and the woman began to move. "Yes! She's finally waking up!" Roland said gleefully. The woman got to her feet and looked at Dagget distastefully. "Awake?" He asked.

She quickly snapped his neck. Roland Dagget fell on the ground dead. The woman stretched and looked up into the sky. "Where am I?" She groaned. Then she saw Dagget's computer. She moved over to it and began to operate it just like the Justice Lord's Batman had taught her. After discovering her location, she began to do a little more research.

"Three months? I've been asleep three months?" She shouted in disbelief. "And everyone thinks I'm dead, huh? Aren't they in for a surprise." Then she began to fly off of the island. "But first things first… I need to find the rest of the surviving Justice Lords."

_Meanwhile, in the void of space…_

"Just two more days…" The creature giggled. "Two more days and I'll be on good ol' planet Earth." The creature looked down toward Earth, as he approached it riding the meteor. "And then you're gonna pay Superman, of yes you are." He laughed maniacally. "Cyborg's coming for you… Ha ha ha ha ha!"

**It all picks up in the next chapter everyone! In chapter four the battle gets started, the action gets going, and the blood starts pouring. I'll try to have it up by Tuesday morning, hope you enjoy :) **


	4. The Attack

Chapter Four: The Attack

"I just don't get why you called me for this. John took my place quite a while ago." Kyle Rayner said as he flew toward the asteroid.

"Because John Stewart refused. He told me to call you instead." J'onn explained through the COM-Link.

"He better have a damn good reason then. I have a life of my own too." Kyle grumbled.

"Please focus. This meteor will strike Earth later tonight. You need to stop it before then."

"Yeah, yeah I get it. No problem J'onn, I've blown up meteors before."

"Not one this big, you haven't."

"How big can it really be J'onn?" Kyle laughed as he spotted the meteor shower. He could vaguely see the larger meteor behind the hail of smaller ones. "It doesn't look that big—OH MY GOD!" The smaller meteors began to clear as he spoke, revealing the full size of the one that would hit Earth. It was massive, probably about the size of Australia!

"Told you." J'onn said.

"What the hell! Why don't Earth scientists know about this thing?"

"The same reason you didn't. Those billions of smaller meteors shield the larger one, Earth scientists are likely unable to see how large it really is."

"Alright… let's get this over with." Kyle grinned, creating a massive blaster with his power ring. He fired a blast of energy toward the meteor, and then there was an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, he had barely even dented the massive rock. "Ooh… this could be a problem."

"Can you destroy it?" J'onn asked.

"Um, yeah, probably. I just need to bust out the big guns." Kyle flew back a ways and was nearly struck by a smaller meteor in the shower. "First let's clear the field a bit." Kyle created a gigantic energy baseball bat, and began batting the small meteors at the large one!

Soon he had struck the large meteor with about a thousand smaller ones, putting several large craters in it. "Now that we've got a soft spot…" Kyle smiled and generated a massive emerald energy missile! He flung the missile into a crater and then watched the green explosion.

The smoke cleared, and this time there were only a few smaller chunks left. They could still do some damage, though. "Now to just sweep away the dust." Kyle created a large fly swatter and began smacking the chunks away from the Earth. Then he caught a glimmer of something red.

"What is-" before he could finish his sentence, a powerful impact struck him in the chest, cracking the emerald energy shield around his body. He felt the wind go out of him and he gasped for air. There were more blurs and suddenly Kyle was being smacked around like a pinball!

Then a cold metallic hand clasped around his throat. "You…" A wicked voice muttered. "You destroyed my ride!" The hulking red monster looked at Kyle's hand. "Let's see how long you survive without yours." The monster grinned, reaching for Kyle's ring.

"Y- you—I know you!" Kyle choked out, looking onto the side of the creature's face that was still slightly human. "You're Hank Henshaw!"

"Was Hank Henshaw. But Hank Henshaw died in an explosion. He was killed by Superman. And now there is only Cyborg. And now Cyborg wants revenge!" He crushed Kyle's hand, shattering every bone in it, along with the power ring. The energy protecting Kyle faded, and then he was immediately vulnerable to the void of the space.

The Cyborg threw Kyle down into the Earth's atmosphere, watching him die and laughing the whole way. "No more waiting… time for vengeance!"

_A Little While Later, in the Batcave…_

Dick could finally stand. After a whole day in bed, he really appreciated it.

"You're awake." Alfred said.

"Yeah… thanks for patching me up Al." Dick said, looking at his bandaged wounds.

"Always a pleasure, Master Grayson. I've had you in this medical ward almost as many times as Master Bruce."

"So, um… again, thank you… but, how did I get here?"

Alfred pursed his lips. Bruce had instructed him not to tell Dick about Galatea. "You were caught in an explosion and wounded. Princess Diana brought you down to the cave."

Dick thought about the explosion, the memories all flooding back. And then he remembered the blonde figure he had saw just before blacking out. The glowing baby blue eyes… they could only belong to one person. Galatea.

"Galatea… where is she?"

"Who?" Alfred tried to play dumb.

"Alfred you've never lied to me for Bruce before, don't start now. It… it had to be her."

Alfred sighed. "She brought you here and then left immediately. She is afraid to face you, Richard."

Dick seemed to mull over that for a moment. "So where's Bruce?"

"I may be mistaken, but I believe he went out looking for Galatea. He was very vague about his intentions, of course, but I do think he is trying to find her."

"Damn it Bruce!" Dick shouted, standing up. "Why doesn't he understand that I can handle myself?" Dick began scrambling for his Nightwing suit.

"What's the problem, Richard?"

"Bruce wants to make sure I don't run into her again. He thinks I'll do something stupid." Dick found the suit and began to unfold it.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Alfred asked.

"I'm going to find Galatea before he does." Dick frowned when he unfolded the Nightwing suit. It was still destroyed from the explosion, tattered and shredded.

"My apologies, I haven't gotten around to fixing your suit." Alfred apologized.

"No problem Al, I have a spare back at my apartment. Huh… but for right now…" Dick sighed unhappily. He looked over to his old costume, still hung in the corner. The Robin costume.

_Meanwhile, at the shared apartment of Lois Lane and Kara Kent…_

Kara tried to stand, but failed miserably. She nearly cried for a moment, hating the wheelchair she was bound to.

"Still having troubles?" A baritone voice stated from behind. Kara gasped and spun around in the wheelchair to see that Batman had entered in through the window.

"Oh God…" She huffed. "Don't do that! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Where's Galatea?" Batman asked bluntly.

"What?"

"I know you see her in your dreams. Where is she."

"Is this about Dick getting hurt last night? I saw her find him after the explosion."

"I don't have a whole lot of time Kara, where did you last see her?"

"Um… around the Gotham Harbor area."

"Could you be more specific?"

"Well… no. She was all over that area. I'm not quite sure what she was doing, actually I don't think she even knew. She seemed really distressed."

Batman stared at her with slight skepticism for a moment. "That's all I know, honest." Kara insisted. "I haven't been sleeping very well lately."

"Let me know if you see anything else." Batman said, tossing her a communicator.

She looked down at the device. "You could thank me too, you know." She said, but when she looked up, Batman was already gone. Lois entered into the room, looking pregnant now.

"Who were you talking to?" Lois asked.

"Grumpy ass pointy ears."

"Oh, him."

Outside, Batman leapt down into the batmobile, when he received a call from the JLA Watchtower.

"What is it J'onn?" Batman asked.

"Kyle Rayner went up to destroy the meteor. I believe he succeeded, but-"

"But what?"

"I lost contact with him, and the energy signature from his ring is gone. I fear something may have happened to him."

"That's the corps problem. Not mine."

"I know, I have already asked John to contact the corps. But Batman… there is something else you should know."

"What?"

"There was an energy signature out there, but it was not from Kyle's ring. It was a much larger energy source, and your scanners identified it as something Kryptonian."

"Kryptonian? How?"

"I do not know. But scanners indicate that this energy source crash landed on Earth about ten minutes ago."

"Where did it land?"

"Somewhere in Gotham Harbor."

"Funny, I was just headed there."

_Meanwhile, at a SHIELD Operations Base…_

Jason Todd was led down the hallways of the SHIELD building. "So you still haven't told me exactly what I'm doing here. What is SHIELD?" He demanded.

"SHIELD is the final line of defense of against metas." The masked man said. "Especially the Justice League, but all others too. It is a specialized team to take metahumans down should they ever pose a threat. And, of course, there would be other covert operations for the team to perform now and then."

"So basically I'd be doing the government's dirty work? Sorry, not my style." Jason shook his head.

"No, not the government. The government knows nothing about this little operation, and we intend to keep it that way."

"Ok, and you want me to join because…?"

"Because we were impressed by your escape at Stryker's Island, and well as your past performances, most notably as the Red Hood. And actually, we don't want you to join. We want you to lead."

"Lead?"

"Yes. You would be the leader of SHIELD."

"Why me though?"

"You are incredibly skilled in all forms of combat, proficient in the use of nearly every weapon on the planet, you are quick to react, and above all you are a brilliant tactician and strategist. You would make an ideal leader for our team."

"Maybe… but what's in it for me?"

"SHIELD can be very beneficial. Though we are not a government operation, we do have some strong connections in the government… you will receive diplomatic immunity, and of course, a very large paycheck."

"How large?"

"How does $1,000 dollars an hour sound?"

"Add two more zeroes, and I'm in." Jason grinned.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Todd. But I believe we can afford it. Now, meet your team." The man opened a door, and they stepped in.

Inside was the SHIELD team, having successfully adapted to their genetic modifications, and now they were testing their new abilities out. "I have a file on each member of team for you to read." The man said. "They already know who you are."

"Sounds good." Jason nodded, looking over the group.

"Of course you too will have to undergo the genetic modification, but-"

"No." Jason interrupted.

"No?"

"That's not how I operate. No genetic modification crap."

"Hmm… very well. For now."

"And one more thing. If I'm going to lead this team, we're doing it my way."

_Meanwhile, at Stryker's Island…_

Lex Luthor smiled when he spotted Lock-Up alone. He had been waiting a long time for a personal chat with the warden, but Lock-Up had constantly had guards by his side. Apparently, now that Jason was gone, Lock-Up felt safer about walking around by himself. Luthor made his way over to the warden.

"What do you want Luthor?" Lock-Up said aggressively.

"I have a proposal to make, warden. One I think you will find hard to resist."

"I wondered when you were gonna try and weasel out of here, Luthor."

"I still have very strong connections in office, warden. Including the fine people who have large shares of ownership here at this prison. If you can get me out of here, I can see to it that you get quite a high pay rise."

"How high are we talking, Mr. Luthor?" Lock-Up raised an eyebrow.

"Just tell me how many zeroes." Luthor grinned.

Lock-Up seemed to think about it for a moment, but then shook his head. "It's a tempting offer, Mr. Luthor. But I'm in a enough trouble for losing Todd. If you get out of here, I might not have a paycheck for you to raise."

"Hmm. Then I'm afraid I have to use the cruelty method."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it wouldn't have been the first time you've broken the rules, would it, Warden? Remember when you worked as a guard at Blackgate, you took a lot of bribes back then, didn't you? And when you worked at Arkham, a lot of those prisoners were beaten pretty badly. Some of them said you did it, Lock-Up."

Lock-Up's eyes opened up wide. It was true, he had always been corrupt.

"If I'm not out of here soon, warden, my people will make sure everyone knows about what you've really been up to all these years. And then not having a job will be the least of your worries, because you'll be in prison. Probably here at Stryker's, and I'm sure you know that you aren't exactly liked around here. These prisoners won't hesitate to tear you limb from limb, once your just another inmate."

"Damn you Luthor, you drive a hard bargain." Lock-Up was enraged, but impressed at the same time.

"So I can expect to be out of here soon, correct?"

"We'll see Luthor. We'll see."

_Meanwhile, in Lower East Gotham…_

Dick, clad in the Robin suit which he had sworn to never wear again, searched for Galatea, when he heard a cry for help. Almost reluctantly, he went off toward the cry. But he was shocked at what he saw. In the middle of a junkyard, was a large glowing green crater.

"What is that…?" He walked cautiously over to the crater, and shielded his eyes from the bright green glow.

"Hheelllppp." A voice pleaded. Dick knelt down cautiously, and saw a figure in the glow. He reached down and pulled the person out, finding that he was covered in blood. And then, he realized that it was Kyle Rayner!

"Kyle? Oh God… what happened?" Dick propped him up against an old refrigerator.

"H- h- Henshaw…" Kyle choked out, and then passed into unconsciousness. Dick saw that Kyle's ring was shattered, but the energy stored inside of it had still saved Kyle's life. It had created a weak shield around him, without it Kyle would have died instantly.

"Alright Rayner, lets get you to a hospital." He picked the young hero up in his arms and took off.

_Later, in the waters of Gotham Harbor…_

The bat-boat stopped around the area where the Kryptonian energy source had last been detected. Batman then geared up for the underwater environment, and leapt out into the harbor, where he swam down to the bottom. On the ground, he found a massive crater where something had landed. But whatever it was, it was long gone now.

Suddenly there was a massive explosion from above. Batman looked up to see that the bat-boat had exploded! Batman swam up quickly and broke the waters surface, and was instantly struck by a red blur. Batman flew through the air and struck a wooden dock, nearly splitting the dock in half! Batman tumbled off of the dock and rolled over the concrete.

Batman got to his feet and saw a monstrous red metallic figure before him. One side of its face was still fleshy, with a human eye and long black hair.

"What are you?" Batman muttered.

"I'm the Cyborg. And you're dead!" He screamed, firing a blast of heat vision! Batman ducked, and threw out a series of explosive baterangs that struck the Cyborg, but the explosion had no effect at all. "Where is Superman?"

"What?" Batman gasped, and then had to dodge more heat vision.

"Where – is – Superman? He's gonna pay!"

"Wait a minute… you just came to Earth, didn't you? Superman has been cryogenically frozen for three months! He's incarcerated, done!"

"Liar! You can't protect him from me forever!" Cyborg zoomed in a grabbed Batman by the cape, flinging him through a brick wall on a building. "I'll find him myself." And the psychotic Cyborg flew off.

Around this time, a group of thugs had tried stealing a woman's purse, but found themselves beaten to a pulp by Galatea! So now the thugs walked aimlessly through an alleyway, confused about what had happened, since Galatea had been moving almost too fast for them to see.

"What the hell was that that attacked us?" One of the thugs grumbled.

"Dude, I think it was like, Superman or something." Another said.

"Nah man, he ain't around any more. It was probably that uh… Supergirl, that's her name."

"No, she's long gone too. Benny said she got shot or something. It had to be Superman."

Suddenly, there was a crash behind them. The thugs turned around to see the Cyborg, facing them down hatefully. "Superman huh?" Cyborg grabbed one of them and ripped his head off! "Where is he?"

"Kill it!" One of them shouted, pulling out hang guns and firing at their attacker. The bullets glanced harmlessly off of Cyborg's skin. He zoomed in and killed all but one of them, grabbing this last one and slamming him against a wall.

"What do you want man? I'll do anything!"

"Superman. I want him! Where'd he go?"

"Uh… uh… the Gotham Knights Hotel?" The thug shrugged. "It's about two miles south of here, you can't miss it." The thug was lying through his teeth, of course, he just wanted to get away, and the Gotham Knights Hotel was just the first place on his mind.

"Thanks." Cyborg then ripped out the thug's throat and threw him on the ground, taking off south. The very hotel where Black Canary, Green Arrow, Huntress and Question were currently vacationing…


	5. Rage

Chapter Five: Rage

Galatea flew toward the Gotham Knights Hotel slowly, unsteadily, her powers wavering. She could barely go high enough to reach the top floor, and then, literally fell in through the window. The clone degeneration had weakened her greatly, and it was spreading faster and faster. She guessed she only had around a week to live.

The top floor of the Gotham Knights hotel was currently being unused, due to a need for code updates or something like that. So she had been hiding out there the last couple of weeks.

She sat down and sighed, ignoring the pain she was feeling. Ignoring the fact that she hated herself. She closed her eyes, her mind wandering to a few months back, the night she and Dick had sat together by the lake out behind Wayne Manor. She remembered the kiss. That deep, passionate kiss. Her first kiss with Dick… really her first kiss to be honest. Kara had kissed plenty of boys, Galatea had seen that through their link, but it was far from the same. Actually, Kara had done much more than kissing. Galatea was surprised as some of the things that the supposedly innocent little Kara had done with boys. Then again, Kara hadn't been taught that all emotions were just meaningless distractions, either.

Galatea sighed at the thought, wishing that just once… she could have done something that would have surprised Kara in her dreams. She closed her eyes, wanting to sleep. She would see Kara try to walk again, and fail again, and she would hear Lois complain about pregnancy, and she would wake up so damn envious. It wasn't fair that Kara always had it easy, while Galatea always got the short end of the stick. Galatea wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she actually glad that Kara was crippled. It was well past time Kara got a taste of the shitty side of life, Galatea thought.

_Meanwhile, outside the Gotham Knights Hotel…_

The Cyborg arrived outside his destination, and looked upon the hotel happily. "Time do die… hero." He grinned.

The Cyborg then grabbed a city bus off of the street, and sent it soaring.

_Meanwhile, several stories lower, in the Gotham Knights Hotel spa area…_

Vic, better known as The Question, walked up to the bar, where Oliver Queen had been sitting for almost a half hour.

"I thought you promised Dinah you'd stop getting drunk?" Vic raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we're on vacation. It doesn't count." Oliver smiled.

"You need help, Queen." Vic shook his head, and then looked to the bar tender. "Give me a white cranberry Cosmo." He said.

"I need help?" Oliver grinned. "You're the one who's become a total slave to his girlfriend."

"I'm not a slave!"

"So you aren't here on her orders, then?"

"No, of course not."

"Right." Oliver said sarcastically. "Because I'm sure YOU drink Cosmo's."

"Um… ok, that's for Helena." Vic groaned. "But she didn't tell me to get her one, I'm getting her one to be nice." He insisted.

"Vic!" Helena suddenly shouted from across the spa. "Hurry up with my drink!" She insisted.

Vic began to turn red, and Oliver burst out laughing. "Face it dude, she owns you!"

"She does not. Just because I do her a favor once in a while doesn't make me a slave, Olli."

"Vic, no offense, but if she told you to, you would strip down naked, tie cinder blocks to your feet and dive off a bridge!"

"I had socks on, Olli." Vic joked, and then they both laughed a little.

"Here's your Cosmo, sir." The bartender said, sliding the drink to Vic. "I hope you can afford it, considering the money you must be putting away for your sex change." Then the bartender and Oliver both erupted in laughter.

"It's for my girlfriend!" Vic groaned, slamming the money down on the table and beginning to walk away.

"Vic, hold on." Oliver said distantly.

"What?"

"You want to hit that water slide up there?" Oliver looked through a window into the pool area, where a hundred foot water slide stood prominently.

"No."

"Why not? Helena doesn't want you to?"

"Stop it Olli."

"Come on Vic, I saw you staring at the slide earlier. I know you want to."

"Kind of, but-"

"But what? Scared Helena's gonna beat you when you get home if she doesn't get her little chick drink? Come on Vic, grow a pair and stand up for yourself!" Oliver stood up and looked Vic in the eyes. "I dare you."

"Huh… alright Olli. If it'll make you shut up, I will ride the damn water slide with you."

"Alright then!" Oliver grabbed the Cosmo and poured it into the spa. "Let's go."

Back down in the spa area, Dinah and Helena sat. "Where are they going?" Helena noticed Oliver and Vic heading into the pool area.

"Olli's wanted to ride that stupid slide all night." Dinah laughed. "He probably convinced Vic to tag along."

"What's Olli's deal lately? He's acting like a teenager or something." Helena raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I think he's having a midlife crisis or something. It's been a battle just to keep him sober for a whole night."

Suddenly, there was a thundering crash, and a city bus flew through the wall! Helena and Dinah barely managed to dodge, and the bus sailed over to the other side of the room, leaking oil the whole way. Then a beam of heat vision sliced out and struck the oil, causing a fiery blast to explode over the spa!

Dinah looked toward where the bus had burst through the wall. From the flame, a dark red figure began to emerge, chuckling maniacally. The figure stepped out of the fire casually, and looked upon them disdainfully.

"Where – is – he?" The Cyborg growled out.

"What the hell is that?" Dinah clenched her fist.

"I don't know, but it's about to have a hole between its eyes." Helena said, aiming her crossbow.

"You brought your crossbow with you?" Dinah asked.

"I never leave home without." She fired a crossbow bolt at the Cyborg, but he simply grabbed the arrow out of the air and hurled it back into her leg! Then, in a burst of superhuman speed, he smashed Helena down through the water and into the concrete below, breaking ribs and drowning her. He held her down under the water violently.

"I'll ask one more time, bitch. Where is Superman?"

Dinah kicked the Cyborg in the side of the head, having no effect at all. He swept his free arm up and struck her across the room, she literally bounced off of the ceiling and fell down. She stood up and released a sonic scream. Considering he had one human ear left, the Cyborg shrieked and blood spurted from his ear. He stumbling into the water, finally allowing Helena to move. She kicked her legs up as hard as she could, flipping the Cyborg over her back and into the water. She quickly stood up and then hobbled toward Dinah, doubled over from her broken ribs.

The Cyborg began to stand, and Dinah released another scream, knocking him back further. "You… you're that Black Canary hero…" He grinned. "You'll know where Superman is at."

Cyborg released a wave of freeze breath, freezing the water Dinah stood in! She immediately found that she was unable to move. She began to release a third sonic scream, but Cyborg had already caught on, and zoomed around back. Behind her, he could not be struck directly by the scream. He immediately began moving in to interrogate her with his growing brutality.

But then, an arrow ripped out and struck Cyborg in the midriff, bursting into a net that entrapped the monster.

"This was supposed to be my week off!" Oliver screamed, now suited up in the Green Arrow costume. "But freaks like you just can't let me relax, can you?" He fired off an explosive arrow that struck Cyborg with dead on accuracy. But when the smoke cleared, Cyborg was unharmed. He easily broke the net around him.

"What did you just call me?" He muttered. "You did not just call me a freak! You do NOT call me a freak! I'll rip you apart!" He leapt toward the emerald archer. Realizing his arrows probably weren't going to save him, Green Arrow sprinted left, but was caught by the rampaging monster. The Cyborg hurled Green Arrow like a fastball into a cement pillar, fracturing his arm. Then in a blur, Cyborg stepped on Green Arrow's chest, cutting off his breathing. He threatened to crush Green Arrow's chest, pressing his foot harder.

"Olli! No!" Dinah shrieked. Cyborg grinned.

"Olli… huh?" Cyborg chuckled. He then picked Green Arrow up slowly. "Sounds like she cares about you a lot… Olli. So I don't suppose she'd want you to burn!" Cyborg then held Green Arrow out toward the fire from the bus! Green Arrow dangled dangerously close to the flame.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him!" Dinah pleaded.

"Tell me where Superman is. If you don't, Olli here gets fried!"

"I don't know, ok?" Dinah pleaded, tears threatening in her eyes.

"Lies! Everyone keeps lying!" Cyborg roared, insanity swallowing him further with each passing moment.

"He's frozen, ok? I don't know where exactly, I don't care! We took him down and we froze him!"

"Same story the bat said." Cyborg muttered. "You're all in it together. You, the bat, everyone! You're all protecting him! Protecting him from me! Well you can't protect him forever!" He then threw Green Arrow off to the side, into the fire.

There was a blur, and then Green Arrow was suddenly safe at the other side of the room. Then the blur continued, and Cyborg was punched several feet away! Galatea came into focus. She appeared to be in pain, but looked ready to fight.

"You… Supergirl!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Not even close." Galatea sneered, flying in for another punch. But Cyborg reacted faster this time, grabbing her arm and punching her in the face. She spun around and kicked him in the side, and then doubled back and proceeded to kick him in the jaw. He grunted, but did not seem to be hurt. Hell, Galatea wasn't sure if he could even feel pain!

The Cyborg got in a lucky shot and smashed Galatea down into the concrete. "You should definitely know where he is. But I'm done arguing about it, I'll just pick you apart and see what I find!" Cyborg then fired a blast of heat vision down at her. She reacted with her own heat vision, striking his. Their two rays clashed against each other, but the Cyborg was quickly beginning to win out. Galatea's powers were far too weakened.

"You should of never left Metropolis!" Cyborg called down. "Because now you'll never go back!" Then he suddenly paused. "Wait a minute… Metropolis! Of course… Superman's always hung around there. I'll find him in Metropolis for sure!" Then in a blur, Cyborg had vanished off into the night sky. Galatea fell to the ground, exhausted. After a few minutes she managed to get up and help Dinah get free from the ice. Dinah then helped Helena walk over to a bench, where she sat the woman down, and then began to move toward Green Arrow, who was still in pain from his fractured arm.

Vic suddenly walked into the room. "Where the hell were you?" Helena shouted.

"I was looking for something to hit him with. Couldn't find anything though." Vic shrugged.

"Babe, I need to get you a weapon or something." Helena shook her head, picking up her crossbow with some effort.

"Who was that?" Galatea huffed.

"I don't know. But whoever he is, he seems pretty pissed off at Superman." Dinah said thoughtfully. Then a dark shadow loomed into the area. They all looked up to see that Batman had arrived!

The dark knight looked them over for a moment, and then said, "Tell me what happened. I want every little detail."

_Meanwhile, at a Cadmus operations base…_

"You have something for me, Dr.?" Amanda Waller asked.

"Yes, Ms. Waller. I'm glad you came…" The scientist led her quietly over to a safe underneath his desk, and then looked around to make sure no one was watching. He then opened the safe, and pulled a vial with an odd purple fluid. The safe was filled with the vials.

"What is that?" She asked impatiently.

"It's…" He looked around again, then spoke in a hushed tone. "It's Doomsday DNA."

"What? Are you talking, rampaging, Superman-killing monster, Doomsday?"

"Yes, I managed to isolate it from the site where Doomsday was killed by the Superman Drones. Since I was able to get this… I trust he will be regenerating sometime soon. But that fact aside… I've managed to alter the monster's DNA! Imagine, Ms. Waller, if we could channel the power of Doomsday into our SHIELD soldiers!"

"Impressive premise, Dr. But tell me, how on Earth did you sneak this passed Mercy? Since she's been in office, we haven't been allowed to do any genetic research without the consent of Wayne Enterprises."

"It wasn't easy, Ms. Waller. It took a lot of cover-up, but it could definitely be worth it."

"Like I said Dr., it's an interesting premise. But there's just too much that could go wrong. We've experimented with Doomsday before, and it never has a happy ending when we do."

"Ah yes, but with more testing, we could guarantee it will work! And you're right, there is a lot that could go wrong. Which is why I found the perfect test subject."

"Who?"

"Our old mistake… Galatea."

"Galatea? Why is she perfect?"

"Because she's rotting, Ms. Waller. She won't last very long now, so if something does go wrong, it won't matter. She'll just wither away anyway, and it won't be a problem."

"Makes sense. But we have to capture Galatea first. I'll get the SHIELD team on it, immediately."

_Meanwhile, in the basement of a SHIELD operations base…_

The base SHIELD used was supposedly a toxic waste facility. That way, the public would never want to mess with it. But right now, something far more dangerous lurked in the basement.

Volcana crawled painfully across the concrete floor. Breaker smiled at the woman. She was still trying to escape, even with every bone in her hand broken, as well as her forearm, shoulder, and fingers broken. Breaker loved watching her suffer.

Breaker reached down and with a simple pinch, snapped her collar bone. Volcana winced, maybe whimpered a little, but hid any other reaction she had.

"Hmm… disappointing. I wanted a scream from that one." Breaker groaned. "All you've given me is little snaps. It's boring." He bent down and whispered into her ear. "Tell me my dear, was knocking over that bank really worth it? Was it worth all the pain?" He snapped another bone. Again she whimpered, but she refused to scream. She refused to give him the pleasure of hearing her scream. If there was one thing Volcana was good it, at was being stubborn. And she would not waver for Breaker, she refused to.

Breaker jerked her broken arm. The pain roared through her body, causing her to shake violently. It was all she could do to keep her mouth closed.

"Go to hell." She muttered. She created a fireball in the palm of her hand. He slapped her, sending her to the ground. She looked back at him, his expression was hard, unforgiving, violent.

"I'm going to finish breaking you, bitch. But not yet. I'm going to drag it out for days, I'm going to make you suffer. To make you wish that I would just end it, that I would just kill you. And I'm going to make you wait, watch your agony grow. And maybe then, I'll get a good scream or two out of you. You're going to be me to do anything else, anything at all, but you've gone and pissed me off, and that makes you a pet project now." He said with a dark chuckle.

Suddenly the door opened behind him, and Jason stepped in. "I thought I said I didn't want to be disturbed!" Breaker groaned.

"We got another mission. This one might be a bit more challenging though…" Jason said distantly, not even looking at Volcana.

"Huh… alright, I guess." Breaker sighed, following Jason out the door. He stopped and waved goodbye to Volcana. "Bye honey, I've gotta go to work now. But I promise I'll be back later." He then blew her a kiss, and closed the door.


	6. Getting Worse

Chapter Six: Getting Worse

The Justice Lord's Diana had suited up in her own distorted Wonder Woman costume. Bored, she searched over the rest of Dagget's hideout on the island. It was a relatively small facility, but she felt there was more to it than what met the eye. Eventually she stumbled upon a strange room below the basement, filled with large tubes containing water. She stepped further into the room, and realized that floating inside the tubes, were tiny fetuses!

"What the hell…?" She muttered, looking over the hundreds of fetuses that Dagget had been growing. She began to understand… these were supposed to be clones of her!

She stepped over to a fetus that was beginning to reach the nine-month stage of development, and looked into the glass longingly. She realized the need to find the remaining Justice Lords. She and the Lord's Batman would finally have what they wanted… a child. A child that they could groom into the ultimate warrior.

_Meanwhile, at the ruins of the Gotham Knights Hotel spa area…_

Batman listened carefully to the information that was fed to him. Information on the Cyborg's attack. Once the story was finished, Batman simply nodded. "I think I may have an idea as to what happened to Henshaw… but I need to do more research before I come to an absolute conclusion." He said.

"Bruce… it was the most terrifying thing I think I've ever fought." Dinah shuddered. "Henshaw… he's every bit as powerful as Superman was. Hell, he might even be a bit stronger in some ways. But that's not just it… Henshaw is insane, Bruce. Sure, Superman was insane toward the end, but not like Henshaw is. Henshaw's crazed, demented, completely psychopathic. He doesn't feel pain, he doesn't feel or even understand remorse or guilt, and thus he has no hesitation for anything. Human life has no meaning to him at all… he's a monster."

"I get it. I've fought people like him before. One in particular…" He said distantly. But there's one advantage we have over Henshaw. He's predictable. He has one singular obsession, one goal; to kill Superman. And knowing that shouldn't make him hard to track down."

"Tracking him down isn't good enough." Vic shook his head. "He slaughtered us here, if we just run at him again he'll slaughter us again. He's more powerful than all of us put together. We need a plan before we find him. A way to beat him."

"I know." Batman nodded. "Dinah, take Oliver and Helena to a medical facility, get them patched up. I need to have a talk with Vic."

"Ok." Dinah sighed, helping Helena walk and motioning for Green Arrow to follow.

"What is it?" Vic asked once they were out of earshot.

"I'm sure you've had the same idea that I do Question. Where have we seen power like that before?"

"The Superman Drones." Question nodded. "Perhaps one fused with Henshaw somehow."

"And if that's the case, the situation could be even worse than we think."

"How so?"

"The drones were adaptable, remember? Whatever we threw at them, they would simply process and find a way to adapt to it. It was impossible to beat them the same way twice. And if one of them merged with Henshaw… we don't know how far adapted that the drone was. For all we know, Henshaw might already have the knowledge he needs to defeat us all."

"It kind of seemed that way." Vic nodded. "He knew how to evade Dinah's sonic scream, he knew the exact speed of Helena's crossbow bolts, and he knew to immediately separate Oliver from his bow, although that one is kind of just common sense."

"I don't think Henshaw has a whole lot of that left." Batman shook his head. "If he's already adapted to us, then he might be unstoppable."

"Right now, we might have a slightly smaller, but more immediate problem." Vic muttered.

"What?" Batman asked, to which Vic simply nodded to the left. Batman looked and saw Galatea sneaking off. He watched her for a moment. The fact that she had saved Dick's life just a night ago was not lost to him. She obviously cared for Dick, even Bruce could see that.

Batman rested a gloved hand on her shoulder, startling her.

"He wants to see you." Batman said firmly, referring to Dick.

"I know." Galatea closed her eyes. "But I don't deserve it… anyway, he doesn't want to see me like this."

"I think that's up to him to decide."

"Mr. Wayne, you of all people should understand I'm doing him a favor. I don't think I have more than a week left, you know. I don't want his last memories of me to involve me rotting away." She said sadly.

"Would you rather his last memories of you be when you betrayed him? Almost killed him?" Batman could tell his words stung her, but he didn't care. He had to get his point across.

"I made a mistake, Mr. Wayne. If I could take it back, I would. But I can't. And now I'm willing to pay for it."

"All I'm saying is, what Dick thinks of you should be his choice, Galatea. Don't try and decide for him. He really hates that."

"Are you going to take me back to Strykers?"

"No."

"Really? Why not?"

"You should go back, I won't deny that. But then this mysterious white blur that's been pounding muggers all around Bludhaven would disappear."

"It'll disappear soon anyway."

_Meanwhile, at the Medical Ward of the JLA Watchtower…_

J'onn operated carefully on Kyle Rayner. Once he had gotten the young Green Lantern stable, he had devoted his time to quickly removing the fragments of rock embedded in parts of his skeleton. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson worked on the less life threatening areas of Kyle's body, his medical knowledge not being as advanced as J'onn's.

"Whatever did this had some serious power." Dick said.

"Easily as powerful as Superman…" J'onn muttered, remembering the Kryptonian energy signature he had detected. He could not help but wonder what was happening on Earth right now.

_Meanwhile, at a lakeshore somewhere near Wayne Manor…_

Diana's job as a Wayne Enterprises Ambassador didn't officially start until the coming Monday, which gave her time to think. Mostly, she thought about the recent events involving the Amazon's. Her mother's words echoed in her mind; _"The Amazon's must refill their numbers. We are to have children."_ The more Diana thought about it, the less sense it made. Ares was likely going to strike soon, they needed new warriors fast. If they had children, they would have to wait for them to grow old enough to fight!

Diana could not help but think that perhaps there was something else going on that Hippolyta had not told her about. And her role in it all… it seemed horrible. Choosing mates for her sisters? It seemed to her like selective breeding, and the idea of it angered her. Perhaps she could consult Aphrodite? Aphrodite wasn't exactly Diana's favorite person to talk to, but she knew about love. Maybe she could help. Maybe.

_Meanwhile, at the Birds of Prey headquarters…_

Batman, Black Canary and The Question went over all the information they could find on the Cyborg. Unfortunately, there was very little to go over. Then an alarm began to beep on Batman's belt.

"What's that?" Asked the Question.

"I've had my computers tracking whatever hacked my system a few days ago. They've finally detected the source." Batman said, looking at a small device he pulled out of the utility belt. "Strange… the source appears to be from a small island in the Pacific Ocean."

"Sounds like something we should check out." Question stated.

"But we have to deal with Cyborg now! I think that's a bit more of an urgent problem!" Black Canary interjected.

"She's right." Batman narrowed his eyes. "But that doesn't mean that it won't be investigated." Batman pulled out a communicator.

"Who are you calling?" Question asked.

"The best man for the job. Tim Drake."

_About an hour later, on a small island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean… _

Tim Drake, currently operating as Robin, arrived at the island about an hour later after receiving Batman's call. At his side was Stephanie Brown, better known as The Spoiler.

Also tagging along on the trip were Connor Kent and Bart Allen, or Superboy and Kid Flash.

The night had started out as a simple get together. Tim, Connor and Bart hadn't really hung out in a couple of years, and they decided to take the night off and go to the movies or something. And then Stephanie had coaxed Tim into bringing her along. And then Tim had received the call from Batman, telling him to check out this island and see if he could dig up whatever information was stolen from the batcave computers. And so, a simple get together had turned into an outing with Robin, Spoiler, Superboy and Kid Flash.

"You sure this is the place?" Kid Flash asked, scanning the area. It was nothing but clear, sunny beach.

"Yeah, looks a lot like Hawaii to me." Superboy shrugged.

"This is the place all right." Robin said, checking his scanners. "Radiation levels here are off the charts."

"Radiation? Like, nuclear radiation?" Spoiler asked.

"Well… this is going to make me sound stupid, but… I don't know."

"You don't know?" Superboy raised an eyebrow.

"This scanner is designed to detect nuclear radiation, but it isn't reacting the same. I think this might be something different all together."

"So… we're just supposed to check this place out?" Kid Flash asked, looking upon the golden sands of the beach. "Because I definitely don't mind." He grinned.

"Kon, look the island over with your x-ray vision." Tim directed. "KF, zoom around the island real quick and see if you find anything strange.

"Got it." The two young heroes said in unison. Kid Flash zoomed off, and Superboy flew up into the air and looked upon the island with x-ray vision.

"Tim!" He shouted. "We got lead. A lot of lead."

"Where?"

"About twenty miles north. I think it's some sort of building."

Then Kid Flash arrived back on the scene, a strange look on his face. "Guys, you've got to see this."

After a while of running, they arrived at the lead-reinforced building. It was small, about two stories. But that wasn't what they all noticed. What they noticed was the corpse of Roland Dagget, lying sprawled on the ground, his neck broken and bent on an unnatural angle.

"What the hell… isn't that Dagget?" Spoiler asked.

"Yeah." Tim said.

"And whatever killed him didn't go far." Superboy chimed in.

"How can you tell?" Kid Flash asked.

"Because considering the wind here, I don't think we'd be seeing these footprints unless they were fresh." Superboy said, pointing to a trail of footprints in the dirt, leading away from Roland's body and heading into the building.

"Let's check it out." Tim said, and they headed in. It was basically a dusty shack, filled with some desktop computers and some scuba supplies.

"I don't think we're gonna find anything here guys. Look." Kid Flash picked up a fallen sign that read, **ROLAND DAGGET'S SCUBA RENTAL SHOP. **"It looks like all Dagget was up to was starting a scuba rental business."

"Alright." Superboy sighed. "This is a waste of time. Let's go." He began to leave.

"Wait." Tim said, stopping him.

"What is it Tim?"

"Look at that elevator. That's a high-speed, multi level elevator."

"Yeah, so?"

"What's an elevator that fast doing in a two story building?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait a minute…" Superboy grinned, reaching out and prying open the elevator doors. They stepped in, and sure enough, there were far more than two levels. Everyone entered in, and Spoiler pushed a button to go to the bottom floor.

The elevator quickly plummeted down and stopped hundreds of miles down below the surface of the island. The group stepped out into the large, dark room, dimly lit by the few light bulbs still working. They walked down a hall and came to a series of large test tubes… filled with floating fetuses!

"What the hell…?" Spoiler muttered.

"That is just wrong." Kid Flash groaned.

"What was Dagget doing down here?" Robin stared at the fetuses, all in different stages of development.

"Hey Tim, check this out!" Superboy yelled from across the room. Robin walked over to him, and Superboy showed him a tracker of some sort.

"It's a beacon…" Robin stated.

"Yeah. Probably left by the same person who killed Dagget. What does it mean?"

"It means that whoever killed him and left here… plans on coming back."

_Meanwhile, on top of a building near the Gotham Harbor Area…_

Galatea sat quietly atop a tall building, pondering recent events. Not that they really mattered for her. Nothing mattered anymore, she was a dead person walking. She laid back and began to dose off. In her sleep, she saw images of Kara again.

But this time, Kara was being attacked… questioned… beaten… by a group of people who had broken into her apartment! "Where's Galatea?" A young man with black hair demanded.

Galatea immediately shot awake, panting and sweating. "Oh no!"

_A few minutes earlier, in the shared apartment of Lois Lane and Kara Kent…_

The car stopped in an alley two blocks away. Jason Todd, now operating and guised as the Red Hood, stepped out. Behind him were fellow SHIELD members Breaker, Denise Le'Sure, Plastique, Fastball, and a new recruit, the Silver Monkey.

Silver Monkey was easily one of the deadliest martial artists on Earth, and was a well-paid mercenary. Now he had joined the SHIELD team, eagerly awaiting combat.

The other members of SHIELD had been assigned different positions around the area. These six were the main party. They walked casually into the apartment complex. Their member The Guardian had already disabled the security cameras through a wireless transmitter. Red Hood looked at the SHIELD team behind him. "You want to check in or should I?" He asked.

"I'll take care of it." Silver Monkey said, pulling out three shuriken (or throwing stars). He threw them all at once. One of them slashed the throat of the man working at the front desk, killing him. The second and third ones killed the two security guards in the building.

The group then headed over to the desk, where Denise La'Sure surfed through the computer, quickly finding the apartment that Kara lived in. "Top floor. Room 18B." She said. The group quickly moved up the stairs, with the exception of Plastique, who headed down stairs into the boiler room…

Once on the top floor, they reached room 18B. Fastball placed a small explosive on the door, and the group moved away. It went off, and the door blew apart. "Knock, knock." Red Hood called, stepping in with an AK-47!

Then, a beam of heat vision flew down and struck Denise La'Sure, putting her immediately on the ground. Then in a blur, Fastball had been thrown across the room. Kara had heard them coming, and was already on the offensive, hovering in the air.

"I thought you said she was crippled?" Breaker asked.

"She is." Jason nodded. "But that doesn't mean she can't hover around."

"That's right asshole!" Kara barked, attacking again. She swung a punch at breaker, but he blocked her fist and then punched her across the room!

"Genetic modification, sweetheart. I'm as strong as you are… maybe stronger." He grinned.

She slowly began to float up, when Silver Monkey zoomed and struck her down. She shrieked in pain when he hit her. "I studied Kryptonian pressure points… in case I ever got hired to take down Superman or something. I know just how to hurt you." He said. Red Hood opened fire on her with the AK-47.

"You should know that won't hurt me…" She muttered as her clothing was torn to shreds.

"This will!" Breaker said, pinching one of her ribs. He could hear it break, and she screamed in pain. Breaker seemed extremely satisfied by this.

"Tell me Kara…" Red Hood started, taking off his helmet for a moment, revealing himself to be Jason Todd. "Where's Galatea?"

Suddenly Breaker and Silver Monkey were both shot in the head! With their now steel-like skin, it didn't kill them, but it knocked them on the ground immediately. Lois Lane stepped out with a pistol in her hands, and then aimed it at Red Hood. He laughed, and simply swung up the AK-47, shooting Lois in the hand! She immediately dropped the gun and shrieked, falling to her knees.

"That's probably not good for the baby, is it?" Red Hood chuckled, walking over to her. He pulled a bowie knife out of his back pocket, and held it to her throat. "Then again, neither is losing your head, is it?" He pressed the knife harder against her skin, threatening to cut.

Lois could think of only one way to distract him. Sure, she was pregnant… but maybe it could still work? "Have you ever been with anyone like me…?" She asked.

"Sorry. I like blondes." He said, about to kill her.

"How about me?" A voice called out. Suddenly a white blur struck Jason and blasted him out the window! He spread his jacket like a glider, falling much less painfully onto the ground. Then the rest of his team flew out the window too, they didn't land as nicely. They all kind of crashed down around Jason. Then Galatea landed, looking upon them angrily. Jason grinned, pulling his helmet back on.

"Lady… you just made my job a whole lot easier." He said.

"You wanted me, you've got me. What are you after?"

"A rotting lab rat. And you fit the bill pretty well." Red Hood taunted.

Inside the apartment, Kara painfully pulled out the communicator Batman had given her. She called him urgently.

"What is it?" He said on the other end.

"Help! Please! They're after Galatea, they came here and-"

"Who?"

"I don't know, Jason Todd and a bunch of other crooks, and-"

"Wait… Jason Todd is there?"

"Yes! And Galatea's fighting him right now!"

"Damn it. I have something else to do right now, but I'll call J'onn right away, he could probably get down there faster anyway."

"Thank you."

Down below, Galatea was surprised at Red Hood's speed and reaction time. He was actually managing to dodge all of her attacks. Then he donned a pair of kryptonite brass knuckles! He delivered a painful punch to Galatea, putting her on the ground with blood dripping out of her jaw. He kicked her hard in the side, then picked her up and punched her into the windshield of a car. He began viciously assaulting her face with a flurry of punches, bloodying everything.

"You know, you really are pretty hot." He said, pulling out a pistol with a small kryptonite bullet and pointing it at her. "I wasn't supposed to kill you, but I'd hate to have Cadmus waste such a beautiful little body. I'll tell them it was an accident." He began to squeeze the trigger. "Goodbye, Superbitch."

Suddenly a grapple wrapped around his wrist! "What the fu-" before he even finished his sentence, someone pulled back on the grapple and caused Red Hood to smack himself in the face with his own gun! He stumbled back and cut the grapple off with his bowie knife. He looked up to see Dick Grayson glaring at him, wearing his old Robin costume!

"Dick!" Galatea exclaimed. Then she raised a bloodied eyebrow and said, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Long story." Dick said, preparing for the fight. "J'onn was busy tending to Kyle… luckily, I'm free to kick your ass, Jason."

"In you're dreams, Grayson." Red Hood snapped.

Then Breaker stood up and walked next to Red Hood, glancing back at Galatea. "Hey Todd… can I play with her for a little while? She's a lot more fun than that red head we've got right now."

"Breaker," Red Hood began, "You help me kill Grayson, and you can do whatever you want with her."


	7. Plan

Chapter Seven: Plans 

The Justice Lord's Wonder Woman arrived in Brazil a few hours after leaving Dagget's hideout. After following reports of a massive gorilla, she traced her target to a sports bar on the coast of Brazil. She literally kicked in the door and entered into the bar. Many drunken eyes were immediately upon her.

"Hey lady." A man speaking butchered English said to her. "What you doing at place like this?"

The Lord's Wonder Woman responded by grabbing the man and lifting him into the air by the throat. "I want the one you call Congorilla. Now."

"Out back-!" The man pointed to a back door.

"Thanks." She threw the man out a window and headed out the door. She stepped into an alley out back, not seeing anyone. Then a man went flying like a fastball and smashed into the wall next to her! Out of the shadows stepped a massive golden gorilla, about eight feet tall and shimmering in the light!

"Diana?" Congorilla asked, speaking better English than the Brazilian she had interrogated.

"In my world you were black, not golden." She mused.

"Your world? Wait a minute… Justice Lord!" Congorilla punched at her, but she dodged and delivered a punishing blow to his face, crushing his nose. Blood stained his fur. She then kicked him in the stomach, and in his pained reaction he bit a hole through his tongue. She swung her foot up and kicked him in the bottom of the jaw while this happened, causing him to bite his tongue off altogether! She then punched him in the cheek, putting him on the ground.

"Listen, ape. I need your help. You're possibly the greatest tracker in the world, you can follow a scent over several continents! There's someone I need to find pretty quickly, and you're going to help?"

"Why?" Congorilla gasped in a breath, struggling to speak.

"Because if you don't, I'll pick up your damn tongue, and stuff it down your throat!"

_Meanwhile, in the streets of Metropolis…_

The martial-arts brawl between Dick and Jason was going nowhere. They had both pretty much given up on weapons, considering they were both walking armories. Then Breaker came from behind and struck Dick precisely in the arm, breaking it. Dick cried out, and Breaker grabbed him and threw him through a glass telephone booth! The shards of glass cut Dick up pretty badly. In a flash Breaker was on top of him, breaking ribs and laughing hysterically.

"Your bones are so strong… they make such a low sound when they break. Kind of a bass tune, I like it. Most bones break at a high pitch, or the really brittle ones just give a crunch. But yours produce a nice low tune." Breaker moved to Dick's fingers, breaking them each one by one, smiling It was as if he were trying to play a song by breaking Dick's bones!

Dick activated his gauntlet tazer, and shocked Breaker off of him. Dick then flipped up and kicked Breaker across the street. Red Hood opened fire with a pair of Uzis, and Dick ducked behind a large steel bench.

"You can't hide forever Grayson!" Red Hood yelled.

"You sure? There's a reason I was a better Robin than you, Jason!"

"Shut up!"

Suddenly there was a thundering crash behind them. The group spun around to see a large red figure had arrived… the Cyborg!

"What the hell is that?" Jason began firing upon the Cyborg instead, having no effect at all.

Cyborg looked at Galatea. "You again!" He shouted. "This time I'll rip you apart!" He grabbed a nearby car and threw it like a baseball! But Galatea caught the car like one too, and threw it back at him! But when Cyborg went to catch it, she fired heat vision that struck the gas tank, blowing the car up in his hands. Cyborg fell back from the force of the explosion, but quickly got to his feet. "I – hate – you!" He zoomed toward her at super speed and punched her into the concrete, drawing blood. He raised his fist again, but then a mini-birderang stuck into the human part of his face!

Blood spurted from the wound and Cyborg shrieked, looking immediately at Dick. "Good job punk, you just dug your own grave!" Cyborg flew toward him, striking Jason down along the way. But ironically, Breaker came in to the save the day! Breaker used his new super strength and kicked Cyborg straight up in the air.

"Nobody breaks him but me!" Breaker jumped up in the air and kicked Cyborg again, this time sending him sailing into the apartment building. Cyborg quickly crawled out of the rubble of the crash, and caught a glimpse of Kara struggling to get back in her wheelchair to help Lois, who was in agony from the bullet hole in her hand.

"I know you!" Cyborg laughed, flying over and picking Kara up by the hair. "Yeah, I know you alright." Then he spotted Lois too. "And you… you're that reporter, Lois Lane. The one who's always reporting on Superman! One of you knows where he is!"

"I'll tell you where he is. He's in the frozen food section of some prison somewhere!" Kara snapped. Cyborg backhanded her, drawing blood from her mouth. "Quit protecting him! Now!" He looked to Lois. "You! You're pregnant, aren't you? Maybe you'll be more cooperative if I carve that baby out of your damn body!"

"Look, freak, Superman went rogue." By now Lois had recognized the Cyborg as Hank Henshaw. "Why else would he have blown you up?"

"Did you just call me a freak… don't EVER call – me – a – freak!" He threw Kara across the room and then moved over to Lois.

"If I knew where Superman was, I'd tell you. It wouldn't break my heart if you killed him. My only regret would be that I'd have to keep it from his son."

"Son…? Wait a minute!" Suddenly Cyborg broke out laughing. "This is perfect!" He grabbed Lois. "Now I get it! You and Superman are gonna be mommy and daddy! That's just perfect! He killed my wife you know. She was pregnant, too." He said. Lois gasped, her eyes opened wide.

"That's right. Just before he blew me up in that rocket, he killed my wife and my unborn child. Now how fitting would it be, if I did the same to him?" Cyborg shrieked, holing Lois off the ledge over the street. "That's justice! I'll kill HIS woman and HIS child!" He dropped Lois, watching her fall.

Then, at the last moment, Dick swept in on his grapple and caught her. Cyborg growled and flew after him, destroying the cable with his heat vision. Dick began to plummet toward the ground with Lois in his arms, but was caught by Galatea. She flew down a bit lower, and then fell, her powers too weak. The three of them hit the ground with a thud, but were alive. Cyborg soared down toward then, enraged, when a series of baterangs struck him in the side of the head and exploded. He looked back and was hit by several exploding arrows, and then a few crossbow bolts and a sonic scream. Cyborg was pelted into the ground by these attack. Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Question had arrived. Question was wielding Huntress's crossbow.

The rest of the SHIELD agents were arriving too, carrying weapons and ready to battle. Cyborg looked at the host of enemies surrounding him, and grimaced. He was still pretty sure that he could win, but he didn't want to take any chances. "Later." He muttered. Then he quickly looked to Dick. "I'll remember this kid. After Superman is dead, my vendetta goes to you."

He then flew off, immediately breaking the sound barrier. Within an instant, he was gone out of sight. Batman prepared to question the SHIELD team, when Galatea screamed. He looked back to see Breaker holding the woman in a choke-hold, and Jason held the gun with the kryptonite bullet to her head. "We'll be leaving now." Jason grinned. A large aircraft suddenly lowered from the sky. A series of tractor beams shot down and quickly pulled the SHIELD agents up into the aircraft, and then it was gone. And they had taken Galatea with them.

"No!" Dick screamed, punching a wall. "They got away!"

"I placed a tracking beacon on Fastball. We can find her later." Batman assured him. "But for now, we have to find Cyborg before he harms anyone else." Then he looked to Lois. "And we need to get you somewhere safe."

"Hey! You guys need to take a look at what I found!" Question yelled, and the group moved over to him, with the exception of Dick, who seemed horrified.

Lying on the floor, unconscious, was a member of SHIELD who had been left behind. Denise La'Sure

"This is good for us." Green Arrow said.

"How so?" Black Canary asked.

"It's the classic trade setup. They have one of us hostage, and we have one of them."

_Later, in the skies near the ocean…_

The Lord's Wonder Woman had now pinpointed the location of Ultraman, Johnny Quick, and Lord Batman, with the help of Congorilla. After she had found her allies, she killed the golden gorilla now flew toward the abandoned cruise ship.

In a cloud bank high above her, the Cyborg watched vigilantly. "Wonder Woman…? She'll probably go right to him!" He flew slowly, following her.

After several minutes, Lord Wonder Woman touched down on the ship, right in front of Lord Batman. "D- Diana?" He gasped.

"It's been a while." She nodded with a smile.

"I suppose it has. I thought you were dead."

"It's a long story. There will time for catching up later, but right now, there is something you must see. Where are the others?"

"Right here." Ultraman stepped down onto the main deck, with Johnny Quick close behind him. "What is it?"

"An army." She mused, raising an eyebrow. "An army completely devoted to us." Then she looked to Lord Batman. "And, my love… a child."

"I'm interested." Ultraman said.

"Very." Lord Batman nodded. "Elaborate."

"You know Roland Dagget?"

"That pathetic little business man? Yeah, I killed him in our world." Ultraman stated bluntly.

"Well in this world, I killed him. But apparently, he was much smarter here. He was growing clones of me. Hundreds of them."

"This could work out perfectly, then. Considering the coming eclipse…" Lord Batman said distantly.

"Can someone please tell me what's so special about this damned eclipse?" Johnny quick demanded.

"All in do time, Quick. All in do time." Ultraman started. "But for now, let's take a look at these clones…"

"If it gets us off this ship, I'm up for anything." Quick groaned. "Lets go now."

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" A wicked voice suddenly called. The four villains looked up to see a red blur racing down at them! It struck and split the ship in half!

The Cyborg levitated up and looked over the group, specifically at Ultraman. "I finally found you… Superman!" He announced, flying down at him.

"What?" Ultraman shouted.

"It thinks you're Superman, and apparently it isn't happy about it either." Lord Batman said, drawing a few baterangs.

The Cyborg rammed directly into Ultraman, delivering a flurry of super fast punches to his face! Ultraman flew back and kicked the Cyborg through a wall, and then released a blast of heat vision. It was met with the Cyborg's own heat vision, and a power struggle between the two beams of heat began. But while Ultraman began to tire, the Cyborg did not! Ultraman zoomed to the left and started firing bullets of super breath, striking Cyborg with massive force, blowing him back with each strike. Cyborg spun to the right and then in a blur, roundhouse kicked Ultraman in the head! Ultraman fell into the water, and then looked up at his allies.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots! Help me!"

Cyborg released a wave of freeze breath, icing the water that Ultrman floated in, encasing him in ice from the neck down! Cyborg flew at him, but was then caught in Lord Wonder Woman's lasso, and pulled back into a powerful punch from her, launching him into a chunk of debris from the ship. Lord Wonder Woman flew down and punched Cyborg repeatedly before he jumped back and kicked her in the throat, putting her on the ground. Lord Batman came around and placed several explosives the Cyborg's body, which went off and blasted him into the air.

Johnny Quick ran across the water beneath Cyborg, spun around creating a cyclone, and struck Cyborg with a slicing cyclone of water!

Ultraman melted the ice around him with heat vision, and then flew back into the fray, shooting heat vision into Cyborg's forehead! It had little effect. Cyborg threw Ultraman and then zoomed behind him, jutting out his fist and fracturing several of Ultraman's vertebra on impact.

He then dug his hands into Ultraman's side, literally tearing out two ribs! He threw the discarded bones into the water, and then clapped his hands on the shrieking Ultraman's head, blowing his eardrums.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this, Superman!" He threw Ultraman across the water like he were skipping a rock. Ultraman slammed into a small island and skimmed across the beach, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

Then a miracle occurred. Underneath the sand that Ultraman had turned up, was a shard of kryptonite. Cyborg landed, laughing all the way, when he noticed the kryptonite. To his surprise, it seemed to have no effect on Ultraman. "What's going on here…? That should kill you!"

"I'm not Superman…" Ultraman choked out.

"Lies! Everything's a lie!"

"Whatever floats your boat, freak." There was silence. Then Cyborg erupted in anger.

"I'm not a damn freak!" Cyborg delivered one final blow. Blood sprayed like a fountain, Ultraman screamed, and then everything was deathly silent. Ultraman was dead.

Cyborg then flew off into the sky, horribly confused. Lord Wonder Woman, Johnny Quick, and Lord Batman arrived to find Ultraman's mutilated corpse.

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Quick shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Clean the blood a bit, and then take his body." Lord Batman said.

"Why?" Lord Wonder Woman asked.

"I have a little plan of my own. A better plan."

_Meanwhile, in the JLA Watchtower…_

J'onn had finally gotten Kyle to remain stable, and now walked out into the monitoring area. There, an alarm began to flash. J'onn responded to the alarm immediately, looking upon the monitor. It was a news broadcast, and on the screen was Doomsday! He had finally reformed after Superman and the Superman Drones had killed him nearly four months ago. Wind had blown Doomsday's miniscule remains very far away from Metropolis, and now he was rampaging somewhere else.

"I must contact someone immediately." J'onn said to himself. "Where is this news broadcast coming from?" He checked, and was horrified at the result. Doomsday was attacking Paris, France.

_Meanwhile, in the batcave…_

Batman had brought everyone to the batcave, where Dick was treated for his wounds. He was still near-traumatized by the fact that he hadn't been able to save Galatea.

"We'll get her back Dick, I promise." Black Canary assured him.

Denise La'Sure had been locked up in a small cell in the batcave, and they waited for her to wake up while Batman searched through news reports, looking for the Cyborg.

"Batman, it won't do us any good to keep on tracking him down, because he'll keep beating us. We need to try something else." Question stated.

"What do you suggest, Question?" Batman asked.

"I think you have the same idea that I do." There was silence. "Batman…"

"No." Batman interrupted.

"I don't understand, what are you two talking about?" Diana asked. She had been filled on the recent events when the group had arrived there.

"The way I see it," Question began. "There is only one being on Earth right now capable of matching the Cyborg's power. Superman." Everyone gasped.

"Wait, are you suggesting…" Diana started.

"Yes. I suggest we free Superman."

"There is absolutely no way we can trust him." Batman argued.

"No, we can't trust him. That's for sure. But we can still pit him against the Cyborg with little effort. We just need to get Superman in the open, and Cyborg will attack him. Best case scenario, they kill each other. Second best case scenario, Superman kills Cyborg. Worst case scenario, Cyborg kills Superman, but is weakened in the battle, and then we finish him off. The way I see it, it can't fail no matter what happens." Question explained.

"I don't like it." Diana shook her head.

"Hold on. There may be two beings on Earth who can match Cyborg, now…" Batman said.

"What does that mean?" Question asked.

"Look at this. Doomsday just reformed in Paris."


	8. Rampage

Chapter Eight: Rampage

John and Shayera arrived at the airport, and were getting ready to leave France. "I kind of don't want to go back." Shayera sighed.

"Maybe we'll go somewhere really exotic next… somewhere in South America maybe?"

"John, first we need a little thing called money. We've been travelling all over lately, and it hasn't exactly been good for our wallets. I mean, how are we going to pay for our wedding? No more travelling until we get married."

"Yeah, I guess your right about money. It's just that green is the last color I want to be thinking about right now." He looked at his hand where he had previously worn his power ring. Now the ring had not been present on his finger in almost four months. "I want out of the Corps, Shayera. Out of the Corps, out of the League, everything. I just want to be a normal person again."

"John, you were never a normal person." Shayera laughed.

"I'm serious Shayera. I want a normal job, I want to be able to have a family without worrying if any of us are going to be killed in an alien invasion or something, I'm sick of all this."

Suddenly all of the screens in the airport turned a bright red. The exits all closed, and a French speaking man came on the loudspeaker. John only spoke limited French, but once that announcement was done, an English speaking man came on and said the same thing in English, "**Attention, Attention, all passengers boarding or exited a plane. There is currently a country-wide Doomsday Alert. Repeat, there is currently a country-wide Doomsday Alert. Please remain calm and head to an emergency safe zone."**

"Doomsday Alert?" Shayera gasped. "Does that mean-"

"Yeah." John nodded. "Bastard must have reformed here in Paris!"

Everyone was ordered into a safe zone below the basement, some sort of old bomb shelter or something. "He can get to us here, no problem." John groaned as everyone crowded into the relatively small area. John's cell phone began to ring, and he reluctantly answered it. "Hello."

"John? Is everything all right?" J'onn said on the other end.

"J'onn? Why are you calling me on my cell phone?" John exclaimed.

"Because you threw your communicator off of the Eiffel Tower."

"Oh yeah. So you saw the Doomsday Alert then?"

"I issued it." J'onn stated. "He is in Paris. Where are you and Shayera right now?"

"In Paris. Small world, isn't it?"

"Do you wish for me to send you backup?"

"No, nothing's happening yet. With any luck he might detour away from here. But just in case, can you get into my room and beam me my spare power ring? I don't have mine on me."

"Of course."

Within two minutes, there was a swift blue glow. John quickly clasped his hand around the glow before anyone saw it, and felt the power ring materialize in his hand. It had been teleported to his location. John slipped the ring on.

"Thanks J'onn." Then he hung up.

Meanwhile out in the city of Paris, Wally West was standing on a street listening to the alarms go off, and watching people scream and run into designated safe zones. "Doomsday Alert? What the hell is a Doomsday Alert?" Wally looked around, confused. He had come back to Paris because he had apparently lost his wallet while he was there, though in reality he had deliberately left it so that he would have an excuse to run away from Linda again.

Then a familiar roar ripped out, the roar of Doomsday. "Ah crap!" Wally thought about going to one of the safe zones, but once he looked at them, he realized that they would be no protection at all against Doomsday.

He quickly decided that he would make a break for it and be out of France in about a minute. But as he began to run, a car from a train flew through a small shop and crashed out into the street right in front of Wally! "Damn it." Wally looked to see Doomsday approaching. He quickly zoomed into the Flash costume, and began running away. But then Doomsday crashed down in front of him again. The beast recognized Flash and was determined to crush him.

"Don't suppose you wanna' talk this out?" Flash backed up slowly. Doomsday roared and charged at him. "Didn't think so." Flash swept to the side and forced Doomsday to turn around abruptly, where he was struck in the face by a super fast kick. After Flash's foot made contact with Doomsday, he quickly decided that he would never, ever kick him again. It hurt his leg like hell.

Doomsday was completely unaffected by the kick, and then grabbed Flash and threw him through the window of a nearby airport! Doomsday quickly threw a bus filled with people through the wall, and followed through the hole.

Flash barely dodged the bus before he was backhanded into a wall by the monster. Doomsday stood over him and balled his hands together, preparing to crush the scarlet speedster, when a construct of emerald energy formed around his arms and pulled him back. Doomsday swept his arms forward angrily, literally jerking forward the entire stream of green energy, and causing John, a.k.a. Green Lantern, to crash into a desk at the airport painfully.

"Hey!" A strong feminine voice yelled from behind. Doomsday turned and was struck in the head by a steel mace. Doomsday let out a thunderous roar and recoiled a bit. Shayera wondered if she had actually done anything more than piss the creature off. Her question was quickly answered when Doomsday clasped his hand around the mace and ripped it from Shayera, smashing it violently into her stomach! He then threw the mace and punched Shayera into the fallen bus. She started to get up, wiping blood from her mouth, when Doomsday grabbed her by the wings, threatening to rip them off.

A large emerald boxing glove struck him in the side of he head, and he quickly dropped Shayera, turning his attention to Green Lantern. Flash stood up and moved over next to him.

"What are you doing back here?" Green Lantern asked.

"Forgot my wallet." Flash shrugged. "Hey, can I talk to you about something, kind of important?" Suddenly a piece of the bus flew between them, and Doomsday began to charge.

"Not a good time, Wally!"

"Right, sorry."

_Meanwhile, at a SHIELD headquarters…_

Galatea had moved to the detention center until Cadmus came to pick her up. Breaker openly protested to this, because he wanted to 'play' with her a bit longer, but Guardian was adamant about locking her up. Breaker and even tried to fight the Guardian, but quickly learned why the hero had been so feared in Metropolis. Breaker now sat in his room, hiding the shame of the two black eyes he had received within the first four seconds of the squabble.

Galatea began to awake, slowly opening her eyes. The room was white, pure white. Nothing else, just an empty white square. Her arms and legs were bound by powerful steel cables. She struggled to break free, but could not. Finally she sighed, giving up. There was only one thing she could really do now… she had to communicate with Kara. Galatea closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.

"Kara… I know you'll see this. Hell, I don't know what time it is, so you might be seeing it right now. And I know we don't exactly like each other, but please, please listen to me Kara. First off, you need to know that SHIELD is connected to Cadmus somehow. The Guardian is here. He's Cadmus's chief of security, if he's here, it's probably because he's keeping tabs on the team for them. And then… and Kara, if no one finds me in time… tell Dick I'm sorry. Tell him I am so, so sorry for what I did. And I love him." Kara then opened her eyes, and tears streamed out of them.

"Touching." A sarcastic voice said from the corner. Galatea looked over and for the first time, she noticed the woman sitting in the corner. The red headed, angry looking woman with her arm in a sling. Volcana! Volcana looked at Galatea and grinned. "I know you. We worked for the same people once."

"You worked for Cadmus?" Galatea asked.

"PreCadmus. It was called Project Meta Control. They had several of us, captured there. General Strider was the lead guy over it, and Amanda Waller was the business end of it. She stayed with the government and the good general crossed over into freelance work." She moved her arm and winced in pain.

"That bastard they call Breaker?" Galatea asked.

"Yeah. He's been breaking my arm systematically over the last couple of days. Guardian finally put me in here… but I'm sure that sick son of a bitch is going to come back pretty soon."

"Why don't you use your powers to get out of here?"

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Volcana shouted sarcastically. "The walls are resistant to heat."

"Then help me get loose. I'll get us out of here."

Outside the detention cell, Jason, after a while of searching, managed to find the masked man who had been delivering messages to them from Cadmus. "Hey, I've got a question." Jason said.

"Ask it, then." The man said.

"The fact that we're the SHIELD team, that wouldn't have anything to do with this new drug called Shield, would it?" He asked, taking out the hypodermic needle which had taken from Arsenal during his prison break.

"I know nothing about that drug. Now return to your business." The man said, preparing to leave.

"I don't believe you."

"Well that's up to you, isn't it?"

"What's Cadmus up to? I want to know now, or I'm out the door."

"All in do time, Mr. Todd. All in do time." The man then took his leave.

After a moment of silence, Jason sighed. "You can come out now, Roy."

"How long have you known I was here?" Roy Harper, a.k.a. Arsenal asked, stepping out from the shadows and into the open.

"A while. Shield leaves a smell after you use it, you know, you weren't all that hard to detect."

"Ok, listen up Todd, because I need to get this over with quick… I'm risking my life just by coming here."

"Damn right you are." Jason said, pulling out a gun and pointing it at Roy's head. "Give me one good reason…" Jason prompted, threatening to squeeze the trigger.

"I'm here on behalf of Lex Luthor."

"Luthor? What does he want?"

"He has a proposition for you, Jason. The same one I accepted. It's hard to refuse, actually."

"Not interested. I have no interest in working for Luthor."

"Oh really? I think you'll change your tune when you hear the details."

"Tell me about it then, and make it quick."

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

Diana felt coldness in the pit of her stomach. She was a born warrior and nothing scared her. At least nothing did before. The talk of reviving Superman, of bringing Kal-El back to life filled her with dread. She hadn't told Bruce, but she had been having nightmares when she slept alone. Horrible nightmares. She could feel the cold floors of the fortress of solitude beneath her. She still felt Kal's influence over her… the terror he had inflicted, the vice grip he held. It was still there. The thought of unleashing him again made her sick to her stomach.

She looked at Bruce and some of her fear dissipated. She remembered how he had fought for her, she remembered everything that he went through, and he still wanted to be with her. Most times she still didn't feel clean, Kal had stolen that from her, but with Bruce it was different. With Bruce she felt… whole.

Suddenly everything froze, the people, the computers, everything. It was all deathly still, completely silent. She tried to get Bruce's attention, but he was like a statue. Then a golden form appeared in the center of the cave… Aphrodite.

The woman's hair was the color of fresh honey, her skin flawless and beautiful. Her dark red lips looked almost as if they had been painted on by a master artist, and the way her chiton snugly fit her showed off the wondrous curves of her perfect body. The woman smiled softly and moved closer to Diana.

"Diana." Aphrodite acknowledged.

"Lady Aphrodite." Diana bowed.

"There is no reason to be so formal, child. I have come for two reasons. The first is to convey the true reason why your mother wants children to grace Themyscira."

"The true reason?" Diana raised an eyebrow.

"The Amazon's do need more to fill their ranks, that much is not necessarily a lie. And Hera has already begun collecting the souls of women wrongly killed. But does that mean that children should not be born?"

"I do not think I understand." Diana shook her head.

"She wants the Amazons to have more than sisters. Amazons are warriors, this is true. But that is not their reason for existence, Diana. They were originally a society meant to maintain love and peace, when the rest of the world was losing such virtues. But with nothing but the same sisters living together for centuries, it would seem that many Amazons are forgetting love. All they know is each other, for whom they have an eternal sisterly love, but know nothing else. They can no longer truly understand love if these conditions remain the same. Hera feels that the Amazons must now know the joy of being mothers. And as for your mother's request, she wishes for you to choose the men for a very simple, but important reason. The Amazons that were not the children of the Dorians had limited experience with men. They had been warriors and some had men in their lives, but they do not really know what to look for. Your mother trusts in your choices."

"Ok…" Diana nodded, still slightly uncertain. "And what of the second reason you are here?"

"This, this red demon you call the Cyborg. He is connected to an Amazon who has recently formed."

"What?"

"As I told you, Hera is collecting the souls of wrongfully killed women. One of them who has now been formed, she was his wife. She knows him and has seen through his eyes." Aphrodite looked to Batman. "Tell your mortal friend here that there is only one way to defeat this creature. He must learn your strength."

"My strength? What does that mean?" Diana asked, confused.

"Well if I told you that, it'd be too easy." Aphrodite grinned. "Hopefully you'll all figure it out soon." Aphrodite left. Time started up again, and everyone else in the cave continued on with their business, completely oblivious that anything had even happened.

"Bruce, I need to talk to you about something." Diana said.

But before she could begin, Black Canary called from across the batcave, "Bruce! Denise is awake!"

_Meanwhile, at Roland Dagget's hideaway somewhere in the Pacific Ocean…_

Lord Wonder Woman, Lord Batman, and Johnny Quick stepped into the room filled with the developing fetuses.

"This is sick." Quick groaned, visibly disturbed by his surroundings.

"This is brilliant." Lord Batman interjected, looking into the tanks.

Lord Wonder Woman brought in the body of the recently murdered Ultraman. "Why are we lugging his body around?" She asked.

"You'll see." Lord Batman said vaguely. "Quick, help me get a few of these." He began grabbing the jars of growing fetuses!

"Um… no." Quick shook his head. "I really don't feel right about this crap."

"Do it. Now."

"Huh, fine." Quick groaned, taking some jars of his own. The group then got into a large boat that Dagget had used, and rode off.

Robin, Superboy, Spoiler, and Kid Flash crawled out of hiding, and Robin shot a tracking device onto the boat.

"Why didn't we fight them?" Superboy groaned.

"Because we would have lost." Robin stated bluntly.

"What? We've got them out numbered!"

"But they've got us out-powered. Even I see that." Kid Flash said.

"You're forgetting these people are on equal footing with the Justice League, and they're way more vicious. If we fought them alone here, they would have killed us. We need to keep tailing, figure out what they're doing, come up with a plan, and take them down."

"Fine. Whatever."

Once they were sure the Justice Lords were out of sight and earshot, they got onto a boat of their own and took off.

_Meanwhile, back in Paris, France…_

The battle had been going on for nearly an hour and a half now, and Doomsday wasn't exactly losing. Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl were all battered and bloodied, losing pretty badly.

Doomsday roared and kicked Hawkgirl into a car. Then he grabbed Green Lantern, who had a broken leg, and hurled him into the Flash. All of their costumes were in tatters, they were covered in blood and bruised horribly. Doomsday was killing them.

Suddenly, a large ship began to descend from the sky. A ship that read SHIELD on the side! The SHIELD team dropped from the ship, firing off machine guns at the unstoppable Kryptonian death machine. Doomsday turned his attention to them.

"This job just isn't getting any easier, is it?" Guardian groaned

"Would you really want it to?" Red Hood asked.

"Nope, I guess not."

Doomsday charged in with tremendous speed. "Ok, you go in left, I'll go in right." Bronze Tiger said, looking to Silver Monkey.

"Yeah, about that…" Silver Monkey groaned. Then he shoved Bronze Tiger into Doomsday! Doomsday grabbed the startled Bronze Tiger and ripped him in half! "I'm the martial artist on this team. We don't need you." Silver Monkey said with superiority.

"Jealous, much?" Plastique teased.

"Not jealous. I'm just eliminating the competition." Silver Monkey shrugged.

Fastball came around back on his hover-board and began flinging bombs at Doomsday. This did little more than irritate the monster, who leapt up and ripped the hover-board out from underneath Fastball.

The SHIELD agents began pelting Doomsday with punches and kicks, doing only minimal damage even with their immense strength. Plastique placed several powerful explosives onto Doomsday's body, and then everyone scattered. There was a blast, and Doomsday appeared to be beaten. But then Fastball stepped forward, and a large grey arm shot out of the smoke and grabbed the young villain. Doomsday snapped his neck with a simple squeeze and threw Fastball into Red Hood. Red Hood looked down at Fastball and for the first time, he noticed the bat-tracer Batman had stuck on him!

"Interesting…" Red Hood muttered.

Plastique threw a grenade into the monster's mouth, blowing his teeth out. He staggered back, but quickly began charging again.

"That seemed to hurt him." Guardian said.

"No it didn't, he just didn't like it."

"Stand back." Jason fired a gun off. The bullet sailed through the new gaps in the creature's mouth.

"What is that supposed to do?" Silver Monkey asked.

"Wait for it."

Doomsday continued charging, but Jason urged the team to remain still. "Wait for it!" Doomsday swung a punch toward Jason. Just before his fist made contact, Doomsday's eyes went dark, and he fell to the ground.

"What the hell? What happened to him?" Guardian asked.

"There's one thing Doomsday hasn't adapted to… himself. That bullet I fired into his mouth, I carved it out of a piece of bone spike that broke off his arm. It entered inside and broke skin, where his own toxin got into his bloodstream." Jason explained.

"How did you know he wouldn't be immune to his own poison?" Plastique asked.

"I didn't. It was just a lucky guess." Jason shrugged.

"So you risked all our lives on a hunch, then?" Silver Monkey asked in an irritated tone.

"That's how I operate. If you don't like it, leave." Jason said bluntly. Then he looked at Fastball's corpse. "And load him into the ship. I've got an idea."

But then there was a grunting, and Doomsday slowly rose again! The first person who he saw was Hawkgirl, and he sprinted toward her, ready to kill. In the heat of the moment, Green Lantern leapt in front of her.

A bone spike rammed into his midriff. Doomsday continued to pummel him violently! Shayera screamed.

"John!" She whipped out her mace and struck the weakened beast in the head, putting him down. She then picked up the bloodied body of John. She couldn't feel a pulse.

"We'll take that." Jason shouted. A tractor beam shot down from the SHIELD ship, and pulled Doomsday up into it. It then pulled the SHIELD agents up as well, and took off.

Shayera dripped tears onto the bloodied John. She had to get him help, she knew it. "Wally… call J'onn."


	9. Flashes of Hope

Chapter Nine: Flashes of Hope

Denise took a seat on the small mattress in her containment cell, the only accommodation provided in the cell. She unwrinkled her clothing and sat in a lady like fashion, very calm. "Who's in charge here?" She said loud enough for everyone to hear.

She saw Batman walking toward the cell, and not once did she falter. "I'm not one for coarseness, but you have a nice ass." She said with a grin.

"I want information. And if you lie to me even once, being hit by Kara's heat vision will be the least painful activity of your day." Batman said threateningly. She seemed unfazed. She looked around the room casually.

"From the level of tech down here, I'd say you're either a billionaire, or funded by one. Right now I'm going to say you're funded by one, because if you a billionaire it seems like you'd be able to hire a better decorator." She said.

"Focus. What exactly is SHIELD? What do you want with Galatea? Where is your headquarters? Answer those one at a time." He instructed.

"The Cray Supercomputer is a nice touch, by the way. Faster than most other models out there, and still classy in it's own right." She said, completely changing the subject again.

"Information, facts, details. Now. It's like baseball, I ask nicely three times, and if you strike out… it isn't pretty." Batman warned.

"You know, I married somebody like you once. He thought he was tough, he liked to be the one in charge, but at the end of the day he was just a little boy crying out for mommy and daddy… but they'd never come home, because they were dead."

Batman's eyes widened for a moment, and Denise caught it. "That's it, isn't it? Your parents died, didn't they? Figures, it only takes small events to drive small men."

"Bruce, she's trying to get into your head." Black Canary whispered.

"Answer a question, now. That's the last time I'll ask nicely." Batman threatened.

"Oh yeah, I married a guy just like you." She smiled. "He thought he was so big and tough. He liked to come home and throw me over the table. He thought of me more as a possession than anything else. Of course, he had his accident. They all had their accidents. Especially Toby… oh, poor, poor Toby. He was such a sweet little guy. Pretty stupid, too. He didn't realize how much I hated him. He didn't realize that every time we 'made love,' I wanted to vomit. And then one night, poor Toby accidentally fell on a knife. The same knife that accidentally cut of his genitals." She said with a laugh.

Batman began to speak, when Diana cut in. "Allow me." She said, throwing her lasso of truth over Denise. "Maybe this will make her a bit more willing to talk."

"What the hell is this?" Denise struggled to get free of the lasso.

"What is SHIELD?" Batman asked again. Denise's eyes widened when she realized that she could not keep herself from telling the truth, now that she was under the lasso's influence.

"SHIELD is a covert operations unit, and a strike team against metas." She said with a grimace. "We are all subjected to genetic modification to put us on par with metas, except for the leader Jason Todd, who refuses the modification so far."

"Who funds you? Is it a government operation?" Batman asked.

"No, we have no connection to the government. I don't know who funds us… only Jason and Guardian know that. Of course I could have found out if I tried, I just never felt like it was that important."

"Where is your headquarters."

"Somewhere west. That's all I know as far as specifics, it's in America and its west. Our pilot takes us there, and I never pay attention to the specifics."

"What do you want with Galatea?"

"Something involving genetic research, the guy in the mask was pretty vague about it."

"Guy in the mask?"

"Yeah, there's this masked guy who comes and tells us what to do. He gives us all our missions."

"Hmm… anything else you'd like to tell us?" Batman said in a demanding tone, knowing they didn't have enough information.

"Yeah, you really want to let me go." She smiled.

"Why is that?" Diana asked, tightening the lasso.

"Because if you don't, I can blow central Metropolis sky high from right here."

"What?" Batman demanded.

"When we were at that apartment building to get info from Supergirl, Plastique went down into the boiler room and placed several powerful bombs in the area. Any one of us SHIELD agents can activate them through this." Denise worked a remote out of her pocket.

"She must be bluffing!" Green Arrow shouted.

"She can't be, I've got the lasso of truth on her!" Diana protested.

"I remember Plastique disappearing somewhere." Batman nodded gravely.

"Yeah, so I want out of this place, or else…" Denise said with superiority. "Three, two," Suddenly a blow dart shot into her neck, and she passed out again. Everyone turned around to see Question holding a blow tube he had found in Batman's arsenal.

"What? You were all standing around like bumps on a log, I had to do something." Question shrugged.

"Cyborg hasn't turned up yet, maybe we can make a little detour." Batman said. "Like I said, I placed a tracker on Fastball. We can send one of us to disable the bombs at the apartment building, while the rest of us follow the tracker to SHIELD headquarters, where we can free Galatea."

"Sounds good to me." Green Arrow nodded, when suddenly an alarm flashed.

"Too late guys, Cyborg has been spotted in Jump City." Huntress said, reading the screen on Batman's computer.

"Jump City? What's he doing there?" Green Arrow asked.

"Wait a minute…" Lois muttered. Lois and Kara had been taken to the batcave for safety, and been quiet until now. "Jump City! That's where Jimmy is!" Lois exclaimed.

"Wait, Jimmy Olsen?" Kara asked.

"Yeah, he was on a photography job there. Damn it, Cyborg knows about me… since Jimmy was my photographer, he probably figured he could get some information out of him!"

"Then I say we get down there before Cyborg finds the kid." Green Arrow said.

"Agreed." Batman added, getting ready to start up the bat-plane.

"Um… Bruce, Dick is gone!" Black Canary yelled.

"What?"

"He just sort of disappeared! He was right next to me a second ago!"

Batman looked and saw that Dick's old bike was gone too, he must have taken off while they were interrogating Denise.

"Damn it Dick! He must have gone off to find Galatea on his own! Wait a minute…" Batman ran over to where he had left the tracking device to find Fastball. It was gone. "He took the tracker too. Dick is probably on his way to SHIELD headquarters!"

_Meanwhile, at the SHIELD headquarters Detention Center…_

One of the shackles binding Galatea was almost melted away. "So what's he like?" Volcana asked.

"Who?" Galatea raised an eyebrow.

"The boy who you wanted to tell you were sorry, and you loved?"

"Oh… what do you want to know?"

"It's not like I'm going to swoop in and steal him from you Galatea, I happen to be in a lot of pain right now, and using my powers like this aren't making it any better. I just need something to distract me, so I don't focus on the pain so much, you know? Boy talk usually works. So, just tell me about him."

"He's great." Galatea smiled. "He wanted to give me a kind of second chance, you know? Help show me the life outside of Cadmus. He was like the sweetest person ever, all he wanted was for me to have a better life."

"Was he cute?" Volcana asked, having nearly melted through the first shackle binding Galatea.

"Cute is an understatement. He's gorgeous." She couldn't help but grin.

"So what went wrong then? What are you so sorry about?" Volcana asked. Suddenly Galatea's eyes darkened, her expression faded into a deep, sad one.

"I- I did something really bad. Almost killed him, actually. I betrayed him in just about every way you can think of."

"I've been there a couple of times, although I was never too interested in apologies." Volcana smiled. The first shackle broke loose, and one of Galatea's arms was free. "Ok, now for the next one."

"Don't bother." Galatea interrupted. "I can do the rest myself."

_Meanwhile, in a swamp down in southern Star City…_

Following the signal from the tracking device planted on Fastball, Dick arrived at a swamp in the southern forest in Star City. "Could SHIELD headquarters really be out here?" He muttered.

Eventually the terrain got too swampy for his motorcycle, and he had to continue on foot. He was only about twenty feet from the signal anyway. Dick slid down into the swampy waters. According to the radar, he was directly on top of the headquarters. "Underground maybe?" Dick thought. Then he saw a grey lump in the water that at first he thought was a log. But there was blood on it, and Dick was quite certain that logs don't bleed.

"What the hell?" Dick reached out and rolled the grey object over, and immediately stepped back when he realized what it was. It was the dead body of Fastball! His neck was bent on an unnatural angle, broken. Then Dick noticed a blinking device attached to the dead villain's chest, a bomb! Dick leapt up and began sprinting away. The bomb went off, and the blast sent him tumbling across the wet, mucky ground. He stood slowly, not hurt too badly.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out. Dick heard a bullet whiz passed him, and strike the gas tank on his motorcycle. The bike burst into flames, illuminating the area. And standing against a tree holding a gun, was Jason Todd. "Well, well, well, Dick Grayson." Jason said casually, walking closer to Dick, twirling the gun on his finger. "I was expecting Batman to show up here, but hey, sometimes you've gotta settle for second best."

"How did you know about the tracking device?" Dick demanded.

"Oh come on, Grayson! I worked with Bruce just like you did; you think I didn't know that he'd track one of us? I was just lucky it wasn't actually somebody I care about, Fastball was pretty useless to be honest."

"What's your deal, Jason? You've always been twisted, but you don't just kill for no reason. That's just not you. You're an anti-hero, not a villain."

"Prison changes you, Grayson. While I was in there, I saw some of the worst humanity has to offer. I used to live by the philosophy that I would only kill people who deserved to die, but after I saw some of the people in there, I realized something… no one really deserves to live. Life is a gift, not a reward. And so, people take it for granted. They abuse it. And so it only makes sense that it should be taken away."

"That's a pretty screwed up view of things. Now…" Dick slid a birderang out of his sleeve into his hand. "Where is she?"

"Who?" Jason said innocently.

"You know damn well who. Galatea! Where is she?"

"I'll be happy to tell you where she is, Dick. She'll be gone long before you get there anyway."

"Tell me. Now!"

Jason tossed Dick a small disk. When Dick caught the disk, it lit up and generated a holographic map.

"That map will lead you to our headquarters."

"How do I know it isn't another trap?"

"You don't." Jason turned and began to leave. "See you soon, Grayson."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I've got more important things to do that associate with trash in spandex."

Dick threw the birderang at Jason swiftly, but Jason whipped around and shot it out of the air. Jason threw a grenade out, and Dick jumped away to avoid the blast. When the smoke cleared, Jason was gone.

_Meanwhile, at a hospital in Coast City…_

Since the watchtower had been abandoned (except for J'onn, of course) there was no medical staff on duty. And with Kyle Rayner already in critical condition, J'onn just didn't have the resources to care for John Stewart. So as an alternative, he had teleported him down to the highest rated hospital in the world, located in Coast City, along with Shayera and Wally.

Now John was lying on a hospital bed being operated on frantically. Shayera sat out in the hallway, waiting. Their own wounds had been patched up by other doctors on duty, but John was definitely the more urgent case.

Shayera slumped down in her chair, tears streaming down her face. She spun her engagement ring around her finger absently, not paying any attention to her surroundings.

"Um… Shay?" Wally put his hand on her shoulder carefully. "It's going to be ok." He said reassuringly, even though he himself was unsure.

"Doomsday was attacking me. John jumped in the way. He was protecting me." She said, her voice quivering.

"What do you expect?" Wally grinned uneasily. "He loves you."

"I know. And when you live the kind of life that we do… life is the same thing as sacrifice."

"Come on, don't be like that Shay. He's gonna pull through, he always pulls through."

"I'm so done with this."

"With what?"

"Everything. This life, I guess."

"Yeah, I hear you. I think the same thing sometimes. Sometimes I just want to be normal, to fit in. But then I look in the mirror, and I run into a little problem… the person I see in the reflection, he isn't a normal person. He could never be a normal person, because he has something that sets him apart from everyone else. It can be interpreted as a gift, or as a curse, but either way, it makes him different, and that can never go away. And so I just go on with my life, because I realize that that thing that makes me different, be it a curse or a blessing, also makes me special. And for me, special is the normal. And I've been lucky enough to find a group of people who have the same version of normal, people who I'm glad to say are my friends. People like you." Wally said passionately.

Suddenly his eyes opened wide, and he dropped his head down. "Sorry Shay, I got pretty off topic there."

"Wally… that was the smartest thing I have ever heard you say." She said.

"Is that an insult, or a compliment?" Wally asked with a grin.

"A little of both." Shayera let out an uneasy laugh, and a little bit of her dread faded away. A little bit.

A doctor exited out into the hall, and she quickly stood up. "How is he?" Shayera practically yelled. The doctor sighed uncomfortably.

"I'm not going to lie to you Ms. Hol. It isn't good. His chest has been completely ripped open, and the poison has already spread through most of his system. We've managed to stop all the bleeding and got all that we could closed up. It's a miracle that he survived the impact, really. But as for the poison… it's nothing that we have ever seen before. It's defeated every single medicine we've tried. We're going to clean his blood and hope that it hasn't infected his heart yet." The doctor said grimly. "But I have to tell you there is about a 1 in 1,000 chance of him surviving."

"Oh." Shayera was refilled with the dread she had just been beginning to lose.

"How did you say this happened to him again?" The doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh… he- uh…" Shayera began to stutter.

"Car accident." Wally interrupted. "You see, we got hit by a semi truck that knocked us into a swampy-ditch kind of area. John shielded Shayera and took it full force; he got clipped on a fallen tree branch that ripped open his chest. The toxin probably entered his system from the water or something, it was pretty polluted." Wally lied so effortlessly.

"Hmm… ok then." The doctor said, some skepticism in his voice. "Where exactly was this area where you crashed? If we test the water, we might be able to find out what the poison is that's killing him."

Shayera gulped at the word 'killing.'

"I don't remember." Wally shrugged.

"Really?" The doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, what do they call it… post-traumatic stress? It's causing me to forget details." He said.

"Fine. Let me know when you remember." The doctor walked down the hallway.

"How did you come up with that story?" Shayera asked.

"I've been thinking it up since we got here. I knew they were going to ask us eventually, so I had to make up something convincing." He explained.

"Well thank you."

"No problem Shay." There was a moment of silence. "Hey, Shay, it's probably going to a while before we can go in and see John. Hell I think they're still operating. There's no sense in waiting around here right now, and I saw a Starbucks down the street…"

"I could definitely use a coffee, now that you mention it." Shayera nodded. "But I'm coming right back here after."

"I would expect you to." Wally agreed.

_A little bit later, outside the swamp in Star City…_

"Dick! What you did was borderline stupid!" Batman barked. He had used the tracking device in Dick's motorcycle to find him.

"I wasn't just going to stand around!" Dick protested. "Who knows what they could be doing to her right now!"

"We have to prioritize, Dick! Cyborg could be slaughtering hundreds of people right now! Like it or not, that takes precedence over finding Galatea!"

"Then I'll find her myself! I don't need you!" Dick turned and began to head off.

"You are not going alone. You wouldn't stand a chance!"

"Well at least I'm not afraid to try." Dick responded coldly.

"As soon as we resolve the issue with Cyborg, we will head out and retrieve Galatea. You wouldn't even get there until tomorrow afternoon anyway, and Jason already said she'd be gone by then. We deal with Cyborg now, and then we can still get there tonight. Don't play into their hands like an idiot."

"You have no right to tell me what my priorities are. What would you do if it was Diana they had captured?"

"I would come up with a plan, instead of charging into their headquarters on a rampage!"

"And what makes you think I don't have a plan, huh? I'm not some stupid kid, Bruce! I know that I can't beat them with brute force!"

"Care to explain your plan then?" Batman challenged. There was absolute silence.

"Ok, so I was going to come up with a plan on the way there!" Dick finally admitted.

"Exactly. That's your problem. You never think before you act."

"And your problem is that you're incapable of trusting anyone. I guess we're both screw ups, huh Bruce?"

"Calm down and use your head for a minute. You know damned well that Galatea is resourceful. Don't you think she can handle herself for another hour? I happen to have a plan to defeat Cyborg, because I actually thought ahead. The sooner we take him down, the sooner we can help her."

"I became Nightwing so that I could get out of your shadow, Bruce. You can't order me around anymore!"

"No one's ordering you. I just don't want to see you get killed doing something stupid. Do you want to save Galatea or not?"

"More than anything."

"Than you need to be an adult, and trust me. Prove that you're good enough to be on your own, Dick. Do the intelligent thing."

"Fine. You've got an hour Bruce, and if we aren't on our way to save Galatea by then, I'm gone."

"Hey Bruce!" The Question called. "I found it."

"Good. Call Wally, fill him in."

"Found what?" Dick asked.

"Where they're keeping Doomsday."

_Meanwhile, at an abandoned warehouse…_

The Justice Lords had taken up an abandoned warehouse as their headquarters, since the Cyborg had destroyed the cruise ship. Lord Diana watched as her Bruce began taking readings from the fetuses. He quickly took a sample of DNA from Ultraman's corpse and studied the way the fetuses had been constructed. It wouldn't be hard to change one of them to completely match Ultraman, he would change everything except the gender. Lord Diana watched has he worked. Then he stopped.

Lord Batman looked to the most developed fetus, approaching the nine month stage. He took a hypodermic needle and drew blood from himself. He set to work altering the child, combining his own DNA with that of his Diana's. This would truly be their child… a combination of both their DNA, grown into one being.

"It should only be about a day now, before this one is officially 'born.'" Lord Batman said.

Lord Diana touched her hand to the glass in which their baby was growing. "She's beautiful."

_Meanwhile, at a Starbucks in Coast City…_

Wally brought Shayera her mocha, and a brownie to go with it. "Thanks Wally. How much do I owe you?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't too expensive anyway, and you've got a wedding AND hospital bills coming up. You don't have to even think about paying me back for this." He insisted.

"Thank you, so much." She said, deciding not to object. Wally sat down across from her. "You aren't going to get anything?" She asked.

"No…" He muttered.

"Why not? It was your idea to come here!"

"I… I just decided I don't want anything."

"Wally, did you spend all your money on my order?"

"Yeah." He admitted. "But it's no big deal Shay, really."

"John told you're unemployed. And you've been fighting with Linda?" Shayera asked.

"Fighting is an understatement." Wally sighed. "Linda… she filed for divorce."

"What?" Shayera gasped.

"Yeah, I guess she wasn't to crazy about me running all the way to France just to get away from her. That on top of the fact that she's pissed that I haven't been trying to find a job, and that she thinks I'm having an affair or something… yeah. She filed for divorce."

"Oh Wally, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, it isn't your fault Shay. It was kind of unavoidable, if you think about. She's a normal person, and I'm not."

Suddenly Wally's communicator went off. "It's Bruce." He said, surprised. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Are you busy?" Batman asked in a demanding tone.

"Not really, just sitting at Starbucks with Shay. John's in the hospital and-"

"Shut up and listen, West. We need you, now. It's important."

"How important?"

"Important as in, the entire population of Jump City could be depending on it right now."

"That's pretty important. Where do you need me to be?"

"Mt. St. Helens."

"What? That's no where near Jump City!"

"I know. Doomsday is in a specially designed prison underneath the mountain. We need you to lead him to Jump City, fast."


	10. The Clash Begins

**Sorry the update took so much longer than normal, everyone. With Christmas going on and everything, I haven't had as much time to write, but now I'm back and ready to start the updates again! Hope you enjoy. Keep on reading and reviewing!**

Chapter Ten: The Clash Begins 

"Bruce this is a terrible idea." Diana said flatly.

"It's better than the alternative." Batman argued.

"But Bruce you aren't getting it! Brute force isn't the only answer!"

"Then what would you suggest Diana? Stopping by and talking to Henshaw?"

"Who knows? It might work better than hitting him!"

"Diana I've dealt with people like him before. There's no reasoning with him, no getting through to him. It doesn't matter what you say, because all he hears are his own twisted, obsessive thoughts. We have to take him down, and we have to do it fast."

"I'm not necessarily in love with this plan either, just for the record." Flash said.

"Like I just said, it's better than the alternative."

"Which is…?" Flash cocked an eyebrow.

"If this fails, Question and I are seriously considering letting Superman loose."

"I'm beginning to like this plan a little more. But it doesn't really seem complete… I mean, I'm taking Doomsday half way across the country. What if just decides to stop chasing me and destroy something else?"

"Doomsday has no actual thought process, only the instinct to kill. And this makes him easy to manipulate, and extremely obsessive. We just have to get him focused on you, and then killing you will be the one and only thing on his mind."

"Ok, this plan sucks again." Flash gulped.

"Just in case though, try to stay out of cities. Keep Doomsday in unpopulated areas as much as possible." Batman continued.

"Got it. Keep him away from people. But another thing… what happens after he destroys Cyborg? I mean, assuming he does it without tearing the country apart in the process."

"Leave that to me. I've devised a way to take him down as soon as he takes Cyborg down."

"Alright, just one more question then. We're in Hawaii, and I've gotta lead him to Jump City? I'm going to be taking him across water. So like, can Doomsday swim?"

"We'll find out." Batman said dryly.

The group reached a the hidden area near the bottom of Mt. St. Helens. "It's going to be really, really hot in there." Batman warned.

"Well no kidding Bruce, it's the inside of a volcano." Flash rolled his eyes. Batman nodded and activated a transmitter device that broke Cadmus's security lock. A rock rolled over, revealing a doorway for Flash to enter through. He began to step in. "I won't get melted or anything though?"

"You shouldn't have to worry about that. Those stairs will actually take you down below the mountain, below most of the magma." Batman handed Flash a COM Link. "I'll keep in contact with you the entire time."

"Sure you want to come with?" Flash asked in a pleading tone.

"No. Doomsday has to become fixated on you, and only you. I can't be down there when it happens."

"Alright then." Flash sighed and began his descent down the stairway, the artificial rock rolling back into place behind him. It was dark. Flash switched on the night-vision goggles Batman had given him, and zoomed down to the bottom of the stairs, already panting in the heat.

"You weren't kidding about it being hot down here, Bruce." Flash said into the COM Link. "I'm sweating like a hooker in a church."

"Do you see any security at all?" Batman responded.

"No… should I be?"

"According to Kara's dreams, SHIELD has something to do with Cadmus. And I highly doubt that Cadmus didn't bother to put security in their top secret holding chamber."

"Alright, well I don't see anything, but just in case… I'll fly down this hallway too fast for any cameras to pick me up."

"Don't get reckless. There could be traps, too."

"Relax bats, I'll be careful-" Suddenly Flash stepped into a laser trip wire, and two machine guns began firing on both sides of him! Flash used his superhuman reactivity and leapt to the front just in time.

"Clearly you and I have different definitions of the word careful." Batman said coarsely.

"Hey, I'm alive aren't I?" Flash groaned.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I really hope you're joking."

There was no response. Flash continued down the hall. He soon came to a large steel door. He touched his hands to the door and vibrated extremely fast, burning a hole in the steel. He stepped through and was greeted by a loud moaning. A lot of really loud, really desperate moaning.

"Flash, what's your status?"

"Not sure… I entered this room, and it's really dark… and it sounds like there's a zombie orgy going on."

"Huh… turn on the light I gave you."

"Oh, right." Flash activated the light, illuminating the room. Lining the walls were what looked like jail cells, and they were filled with people. Some of the tiny cells had up to twelve people crammed in them, sharing one blanket, one pillow, and one toilet. One with no plumbing or anything, of course. The people looked starved, like they hadn't eaten in days. Many were dying. Many were already dead, and just rotting in their cells, creating an unbearable stench that mixed with that of the toilets. Flash actually vomited as the smell hit him.

"What's going on in there?" Batman demanded.

"This is sick, even by Cadmus's standards. I can't even describe this to you Bruce." Flash muttered. "It's some sort of prison." Flash looked at a fallen sign in the middle of the hallway. It read, **META-GENE CONTAINMENT AREA. **"Meta-Gene?" Flash looked at all of the mistreated prisoners. "None of these people look like metas to me."

"They aren't." Batman said. "It's a Meta-Gene Containment Area, which means that the people here aren't metas, but they're humans who carry the meta-gene. Cadmus locked this people up because they could pass the gene on to their children, and those children could potentially become metas."

"What? So these people are suffering in here because of what _could _happen? That's twisted. I'm breaking them out of here."

"No Flash, don't." Batman ordered.

"Why not?" Flash shouted, stunned.

"Think for a minute. Your mission is to get Doomsday. If you let these innocent people out now, they'll only attract his attention. It's for their own good that you leave them be for now."

"But-"

"I'll get them out of there as soon as you're gone Wally, I promise. But for now, you need to focus on the mission at hand."

"Fine." He moved further down the hall, trying to block out the tortured screams around him. Trying to ignore the smell, and the rage that was building up inside of him. Cadmus had gone too far with this. As he was lost in thought, a bony, decrepit hand lunched out toward his face. Flash had to the jump back. He saw that the hand belonged to an elderly man, who seemed to be withering away.

"H- Help me…" The man begged, coughing up a spat of blood.

"Help is coming, sir. I promise." Flash assured him, though he wasn't even certain if the man had heard what he said. As he moved on farther, he noticed the most disturbing part yet… some of the cellmates had become so desperate for food, that they had begun to eat each other! "Bruce, I can't watch this. They're seriously turning to cannibalism!"

"Focus, Flash. The sooner you get out of there, the sooner I can get in and free them."

Then, amongst the moaning and screaming, Flash heard a familiar voice. A voice that made him cringe so deeply that he wished he had just let the machine guns kill him. It was unmistakable… it was Linda.

Fearfully, Flash walked to the cell the voice had come from. Inside was Linda. Inside was his wife. She didn't look like she had been in there long. It couldn't have been long, Flash had just seen three days ago. "Linda… oh God, Linda!" He cried.

"Wally." She was tearing up.

"When- when did this-"

"Right after you left." She said. "Right after I kicked you out of the house and all that, they came and got me. I've been in here for a little over two days now." She said.

"But- But why?"

"They found out…"

"Found out what?"

"That… well… Wally, you're going to be a father."

"What? You mean-"

"I'm pregnant. About a month now, actually. Cadmus… they were worried you would pass down your powers to the baby, so as a precaution, they put me in here." She began to cry. "They said they would let me out after the baby was born… but they were going to kill it."

"Is that why…" Wally began.

"Yes. I'm so, so sorry Wally. That's why I had to push you away… that's why I filed for the divorce, that's why I did everything. I didn't want them to get to you too."

"Damn it." Flash grabbed the bars. "Damn them… I'll take them down one by one…" He muttered.

"Flash, remember the mission." Batman repeated.

"I'm getting her out. Right now." Flash began to vibrate, melting through the bars.

"Flash, don't! Do you want Doomsday to kill her?"

"Forget Doomsday. Forget Cyborg. Forget all this mess, I don't even care anymore. I'm getting her out!"

"Wally, wait." Linda touched her hand to his. "Wally, don't sacrifice other lives just to get me out of here. If you have something more important to do, then-"

"Nothing is more important!" Flash interrupted her.

"Wally… I think I can wait ten minutes." She said, her eyes pleading. "Please Wally, do what you have to. I'll get out of here no matter what. But you have other responsibilities, and I can tell that right now, there are lives at stake. So please Wally… go."

"Ok." Wally sighed, stepping back. He then moved the rest of the way down the hall, where he reached a large metal wall.

"Think Doomsday's behind this wall?" Flash asked through the Com Link.

"I have no doubt in my mind."

Flash reached out and vibrated through the door. Sure enough, inside was a roaring doomsday, bound by powerful chains. He looked at Flash and screamed in rage.

"Hey big guy. You remember me don't you?" Flash waved. "You hate me, right? I don't think there's a whole lot that you don't hate…" Doomsday roared in response. "Ok bitch, let's do this." Flash tossed small but powerful magnetic explosives onto each of the chains. He then turned and began head start, and pressed the detonator. The small explosives went off, and that combined with Doomsday's pulling, broke the chains. The monster took off after the flash. Flash was already headed toward the staircase and on his way out, when suddenly Doomsday landed in front of him, having leapt across most the hall.

"Ok, plan B it is then." Flash said, turning around. He then vibrated through the ceiling, and was quickly followed by the leaping Doomsday. They were now inside of Mt. St. Helens. Flash ran up the wall of the volcano, sure to move at such a high speed that he was hardly even burned. Doomsday climbed up after him, and Flash began moving down the side of the mountain with the monster close behind. "You're keeping up pretty good Doomsday, then again, you've fought me a couple times now. Probably evolved quite a bit of speed."

Within a matter of minutes they had reached the ocean. "Let's see if you can swim!" Flash moved across the water. Doomsday leapt into the ocean like a torpedo, and began moving through it like one too! A large grey hand shot up and nearly grabbed Flash's leg. Flash jumped up and briefly went underwater before regaining his footing.

"Yeah! Doomsday can swim! Doomsday can swim really fast!" Flash shouted to himself, continuing forward.

_Meanwhile, at the Bat Cave…_

Denise La'Sure woke up slowly. She looked around to make sure that everyone was gone. Then, with a smile she grabbed the bars on her cell and ripped them apart with little effort. Apparently Batman had forgotten to take her genetic enhancements into account. She walked casually out into the batcave, seemingly appalled at her surroundings.

"Disgusting." She muttered. "Impressive tech though." She moved over to Batman's computer, and started looking through files. "Let's see if I can find out who you are, pointy ears."

Suddenly a crossbow bolt drove into her back, pushing her forward into the computer screen!

"I don't think so." Huntress said from behind. Because of her broken ribs, Huntress had stayed behind in the bat cave.

Denise stood up slowly, and pulled the bolt from her back. With her steel like skin, it had barely even made a puncture wound. "You shouldn't have done that, bitch!" Denise snapped the arrow in half and turned around, facing Huntress down. She attacked.

Huntress attempted to dodge, but her wounds were severely slowing her down. She knew she could not fight in this condition. Denise prepared to land what probably would have been a fatal blow, when she was struck by a powerful blast of super breath. She flew into the stone wall and looked up to see Kara, in her wheelchair, looking angry.

"You again…" Denise touched the scar on top of her head where the head vision had hit her before. "Time for revenge, little girl." She clenched her fists. In an instant she was attacking Kara. She kicked the blonde out of her wheelchair, sending her flying head first into the ceiling! Kara fell hard onto the floor, and was greeted by a blow to the back of the neck from Denise. Kara desperately tried to walk, but kick, to do _something_, but her legs simply would not respond.

Huntress grabbed Denise in a choke hold, but Denise easily won out with her super strength, and threw Huntress straight into an old model of the batmobile, smashing the windshield and denting the hood. Huntress screamed as glass from the windshield embedded itself into her back, and the shock from the impact attacked her already broken bones. Huntress slumped out of the car slowly, bleeding, and was then kicked in the chest by Denise. Huntress hit the door of the batmobile and caved it in, tumbling out the other door. Denise grabbed the fallen heavy steel car door and struck Kara in the back of the head with it, drawing blood. Huntress started to stand again, stubbornly refusing to back down. Denise threw it and knocked Huntress back.

"Now… which one should I kill first…" Denise said thoughtfully, picking both women up by the hair. "The blonde super-slut who put a scar on my otherwise flawless skin…" Then she looked to Huntress. "Or the mafia baby, who thought it'd be a good idea to shoot me in the back. Did you learn that trick from your daddy? I'm sure he could have taught you all sorts of ways to hurt people. When he wasn't hurting you, anyway."

Huntress spit in Denise's face. "Go to hell." She said defiantly.

"The mafia baby it is then." Denise said, preparing to finish off Huntress.

"Excuse me Ms.!" A voice called. Denise looked to see Alfred standing in the room, with a shotgun aimed at her! Alfred glanced at the damaged batmobile. "Who do you think has to clean that car?" He lectured.

"What the hell is this?" Denise broke in laughter, dropping both women and walking casually toward Alfred. "This is just priceless. The big hero here is some decrepit old maid? Hah!"

The shotgun fired, and Alfred shot Denise right in the face! "I am no maid!" He exclaimed. Denise fell to the ground, and wiped blood from her forehead. She was bleeding. She stood up fiercely, burning with anger.

"That'd better not leave another scar!" She shouted, rushing toward Alfred. He fired another shell, this time puncturing her shoulder. Blood sprayed from the wound, but she didn't slow down at all. She grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and twisted it upwards, destroying the weapon. She grabbed Alfred by the throat.

"You know, you aren't the first butler I've killed." She said, squeezing harder. "I had plenty of butlers as a kid, they all had accidents too, just like all my husbands!"

In the corner, she spotted something that caught her attention. A small blinking light… her detonator. She grinned and threw Alfred down, walking toward the device. "But before I rip you all apart, I'm going to blow Metropolis sky high!" She pushed the button on the detonator…

_Meanwhile, at the ruins of the apartment in Central Metropolis…_

"I can't believe I got stuck with bomb duty." Dick groaned, disabling another bomb in the apartment building's boiler room.

"We need to make sure we disable all of these bombs, Dick." Question stated. "It's a crappy job, I agree, but it's better than cleaning up all the bodies if the bombs go off."

"You're view of life is nothing short of charming, Vic." Black Canary said sarcastically.

"I agree with Dick on this one. We should be in Jump City helping out, not here doing the bomb squad's job." Green Arrow chimed in.

"Olli, if you don't quit being such a grumpy ass, I'm going to rip off your beard." Black Canary said.

"Yeah right, my beard's too hot to come off." Green Arrow added.

"He always has to have the last word." Question shook his head, prompting Black Canary to elbow him in the ribs.

"Hey guys, I just disabled the last bomb." Dick said, walking toward the group.

"Are you sure?" Asked the Question.

"Well we haven't found anymore, and we've been here an hour. I think it's safe to assume that we got them all." Dick shrugged.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping underneath the boiler. "Oh crap." Black Canary sighed. They all broke into a sprint. A final hidden bomb went off, in turn causing the boiler to explode, turning the abandoned area into a crater! The heroes barely managed to escape with their lives.

"Ok… I've been wrong before." Dick groaned, feeling like an idiot.

"The boiler… we've been here an hour, how did we not look under the damn boiler?" Green Arrow muttered.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Question asked.

"What?" Black Canary raised an eyebrow.

"It means Denise is awake, with Helena and Kara."

_Meanwhile, back at the bat cave…_

"Hah, hah, hah! Central Metropolis is probably nothing more than a crater by now!" Denise exclaimed, when suddenly her detonator exploded! Denise was blasted six feet into a wall, covered in blood, and Huntress laughed.

"What the hell just happened…?" Denise moaned.

"Do you really think Batman would just leave that thing laying around in the open? He rigged your detonator to explode when you use it!" Huntress said.

"That's low… good one." Denise grinned, falling unconscious, streaking blood on the wall as she slipped onto the floor.

Alfred walked up with a broom and a mob. He threw the mop to Huntress. "You clean up this bloody mess. I'm going to dispose of this woman." Alfred literally began sweeping her body across the floor.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure she's dead Alfred…" Huntress laughed.

"I don't care. I want her out!"

_Meanwhile, at the SHIELD Detention Center…_

Volcana watched as Galatea broke the last of the shackles binding her. The blonde then scanned the walls with her x-ray vision, only to find that every inch was lined with lead. "Damn it! There's lead everywhere." Galatea looked desperately to find any place without the material, and finally smiled when she looked below them. The floors had no lead whatsoever. "Yes!" Galatea stomped hard into the ground, smashing away the tile. Below was hard earth.

"We can tunnel our way out." Galatea grinned. "And then we're free."

"Freedom, huh?" Volcana said distantly. "Wonder how long I'll keep it this time."

Galatea stopped digging and looked at the mistress of fire strangely. "You don't have to get out and start causing trouble again, you know."

"Yeah, I do." Volcana sighed.

"What for? I mean, you've got so much power... shouldn't you be able to choose how you use it?"

"Galatea, do you know why I went to crime in the first place?"

"Well… I read your profile while I was at Cadmus. But there wasn't much about you, really. It just said you deserted government work and turned to a life of crime." Galatea shrugged.

"Hmm. Figures. Cadmus only focuses on the actions, they don't give a damn about the motivation for those actions." Volcana leaned back against a wall. "I was a teenager when I discovered my powers. My parents, they flipped. They weren't too crazy about having a metahuman freak for a daughter. So they took me to a lab doing experimental research with the meta gene, and they let them test possible cures on me. None of them worked… and all of them hurt. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I broke out, I ran away. During the escape, I torched a doctor who tried to stop me. I didn't mean to kill him… it was just instinct. After that, Project Meta Control found me. They said that I had two choices; I could work for them, or they would send me to trial for the murder."

"So you joined them." Galatea said, knowing this much.

"Obviously. I spent a couple years with that whole organization, did a lot of covert ops. One of these ops involved delivered a special package to a military base called NORAD. And that was when I met Cody."

"Cody?" Galatea raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… Cody. I don't even remember his last name, isn't that sad?"

"Who was he?" Galatea asked, wanting to move the story along.

"Cody was a younger guy; actually he was still in High School I think. He broke into the NORAD base."

"Why?"

"Because Cody was a thrill junkie. He was just looking for trouble. Anyway, I caught Cody. Only instead of getting rid of him, I talked to him. We talked for hours, he was an amazing guy."

"Then what happened?" Galatea asked.

"Well… then we did more than talking." Volcana grinned. "A lot more. Real romantic huh? I lost my virginity at a grungy military base. Anyway, Cody took off after that. I never saw him again. And guess what, I got pregnant!"

"Really?" Galatea was beginning to become interested in the story.

"Yup. I couldn't let Project Meta Control find out. If they found out, they would have killed me on the spot, before I could pass on the meta gene. So I fled. What else could I do? I deserted the base that very night. So then the government plastered my face on every wanted poster in the country. I couldn't find any place to stay, everyone knew who I was. I gave birth in a warehouse, even. Sometimes I think that baby would have been better off if I had miscarried…"

"Wait, so you have a son?"

"Yeah. That's why I turned to crime, Galatea. There was nothing else I could do… I had to support me and my son, with no job and no place to live. And since being a hero doesn't exactly get you a paycheck, I had to use my powers to steal."

"So what does your son do, I mean, when you're…"

"When I'm locked up in jail?"

"Yeah."

"Well… then he steals for himself and waits for me to get out." There was a long silence. "I never claimed to be mother of the year, Galatea. But please try to understand…"

"I think I do." Galatea said thoughtfully. "Now I think he's waited for you long enough… let's get out of here." She began digging.

_A while later, in Jump City at the unveiling of the new LexCorp Power Suit…_

Sergeant Jeffery Rhodes of the United States Military stepped out onto the stage, wearing the new LexCorp Power Suit. The crowd cheered. Jimmy Olsen began taking pictures.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hope began, speaking into the microphone. "With this suit, the police forces all throughout the United States will gain the power to safely deal with threats that they previously could not handle. The suit augments strength and speed, allows for flight, has connection to police radios, is durable enough to withstand fire from an RPG, and is even equipped with dual shock cannons that can bring a criminal down in a matter of seconds, without the use of lethal force." The crowd went wild.

"With our police in these power suits, we will no longer have to rely on the Justice League to handle super-villain threats, a squad of officers can be dispatched and deal with the threat easily." More cheering.

"Come on…" Jimmy muttered. "Do a demonstration, give me some action, I need good pics!"

Suddenly there was a bright red flash. The stage split in half as the Cyborg landed! He immediately picked Jimmy out of the audience, and pointed. "You… you know what I need to figure out…" He began to move toward Jimmy, firing heat vision into the audience to clear the area!

Sergeant Rhodes attacked from behind, but his strength was not sufficient to take down the Cyborg. The Cyborg simply whipped the Sergeant off of him. Rhodes then fired the shock cannons, pissing Cyborg off. "Alright, apparently you want to die, so Olsen can wait!" Cyborg barked, moving toward the soldier.

Then there was a roar in the distance. Then another roar, this one a bit less distant… then Doomsday crashed down onto the scene! Flash stopped in his tracks, panting. "Ok, am in the right place-" He dodged a blast of the Cyborg's heat vision, and immediately decided the answer to his question was yes.

Doomsday stomped forward, his attention suddenly on Cyborg.

"What the hell is that?" Cyborg muttered.

"It- it's the thing that killed Superman!" Rhodes yelled. People immediately began to run away, screaming.

Doomsday's body was able to detect the presence of anything Kryptonian. And Cyborg's partially Kryptonian body was setting him off like an alarm. Doomsday roared, his attention focused toward the crazed robotic monstrosity.

"Alright… so you killed Superman huh…" Cyborg faced the creature down. "Well in that case, fighting you should make it easy to determine what I'm up against."

Doomsday charged blindly at the Cyborg. Cyborg charged as well. The two killers leapt at each other, preparing to strike…


	11. Death

**Sorry the update took so long again, I've been getting lazy. I promise the next update will be a lot faster, keep on reading and reviewing everyone! **

Chapter Eleven: Death

Flash was uneasy watching the battle take place. He knew that Doomsday would attack Cyborg. He didn't know how much destruction it would cause. The sheer force from their punches was causing windows several blocks away to shatter!

"This is ridiculous." Flash sighed, but at least Doomsday seemed to be winning. That was kind of a good thing… kind of. He looked to the soldier in the power suit. He cold have left like everyone else, but he had stayed behind, making sure all the civilians got to safety. "Alright then…" Flash sighed. "Time to get moving again."

The two powerful warriors clashed, their blows thundering off of each other. This battle was going to last a long, long time.

_Meanwhile, just outside the SHIELD headquarters…_

Galatea and Volcana broke through the surface of the ground, outside the base. Galatea was drenched in sweat, and was visibly in pain.

"You ok?" Volcana asked.

"Yeah… uh, fine…" Galatea huffed.

"I couldn't help but notice you aren't using your left arm very much… So what's up with that?" Volcana raised an eyebrow.

"I- it's a disease. Something only clones get."

"Yeah, I remember you said something earlier, something about having a week left?"

"Yeah." Galatea said grimly. "Probably not even that now… if I wasn't wearing this suit, you'd see that I'm like, rotting. All my flesh and stuff is pretty much dead on the left side now."

"Hmm. Does he know?"

"Who?"

"That guy you like, or love, or whatever. Does he know?"

"Yeah. He knows."

"Then if I were you, I'd go and find him."

"Why?"

"Because you want to be with him, right? So if you're time is almost up, spend it being happy!"

"I- I don't know." Galatea lowered her head. "I doubt that he wants to see me very badly."

"'Tea." Volcana put her hand on Galatea's shoulder. "I don't know much about this guy, but I think I know men in general. And if he's anything like you say he is… and you really apologize… he'll forgive you."

"Thanks." Galatea grinned. "So where are you headed?"

"Hobbs Bay. My son knows to go there when things get rough."

There was a long silence as the two women looked up at the sun, for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"You're son will be waiting awhile then, sweetheart." A sinister voice called from behind. Galatea and Volcana spun around to see Breaker, looking down on them with a cruel grin.

"You again." Volcana growled.

"Yup, me again! I'm sure you're very excited." Breaker neared them casually, not intimidated by the two at all. "I've actually been hoping you two would escape. I hate to start a job that I can't finish." Breaker looked at Voclana's broken arm with a look of hunger in his eyes. He wanted to break more. He always wanted more.

"Back off." Galatea threatened, heat vision burning in her eyes.

"Shut up and wait your turn, blondy. It's first come, first serve. But don't worry, I'll try to finish Volcana quickly, I'm growing bored with her. Hopefully I'll get a scream out of you."

Galatea glanced at Volcana and mouthed the word, _"run." _But Volcana shook her head. She wanted to take Breaker down, and with Galatea at her side, she was pretty sure that they could.

Volcana created a ball of fire in the palm of her hand, and hurled it toward Breaker. Breaker jumped above the fireball and landed on a ledge above them. "Disappointing." He muttered, and then leapt at the red headed woman.

Galatea moved in to stop him, but Breaker struck her in several places with remarkable speed, breaking several bones. Galatea cried out and fell to the ground. Breaker then kicked her to the side and ran at Volcana.

Galatea stood to fight, but Volcana shot a blast of fire in front of her, cutting Galatea off from the Volcana and Breaker.

"Volcana, what-"

"Get out of here, 'Tea." Volcana said firmly.

"What? No, I'm not going to leave you, I-"

"Galatea shut up and go!" Volcana demanded. "You deserve a second chance more than I do. Run."

"I- I-"

"Just promise me one thing, Galatea."

"What?"

"My son… make sure he's ok. And if possible… try and find him a home or something. Please."

"I will." Galatea nodded. Then she turned and flew off quickly.

"Ah, how noble." Breaker chuckled, reaching down toward Volcana. "Nobility gets you nowhere but the grave, sweetheart." He began to break her.

Galatea was almost outside the vicinity of the SHIELD headquarters when she was hit by a powerful projectile. It struck her down and she fell to the ground, where she was instantly surrounded by Cadmus trucks. Amanda Waller stepped out, with two armed guards by her side.

"You didn't really think you were getting away that easily, did you?" Waller raised an eyebrow.

"Oh… damn it…" Galatea groaned.

_Meanwhile, at the Meta-Gene Prevention Facility below Mt. St. Helens…_

Diana helped Bruce get everyone outside into the transport ship J'onn had sent. So many people had died… it was sickening. Cadmus had gone too far this time. She looked to Batman, who was clearly as bothered as she was, even if his outward appearance didn't show it. Diana could read him well enough by now to know that he was enraged. She headed back down into the prison area, making sure they had gotten everyone.

Diana heard the sound of heels clicking across pavement toward the end of the hall, and soon a woman was visible. Tall, with lush dark hair and golden wings on her back. She looked strangely familiar, and very powerful.

"I- I know you." Diana said.

"As you should, child. I am Thanatos, goddess of death. I escort those who have died. There is much, much death here. I have been very busy. Not pleasant death either. unlike our father, have no desire to see mortals suffer. I find this… bothersome."

"Lady Thanatos, why do you linger here? We have recovered all those who still live and are taking them to safety." Diana said.

"Child… sister. I have forgotten how young you are, and how sadly uneducated in the ways of the gods. I am death. I appear not only where death is, but where death is coming. And there is much more on its way."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"Another mortal. He is to die very soon… probably at this very location. He is brave. His bravery, his passion, and his love are all well placed. He has no faith in the afterlife, but he has every faith in you."

Diana's eyes widened. "Bruce…" She realized. "I won't let you take him!"

"That is not your decision child, nor is it mine. If you wish to keep him in this life, then figure out what lady Aphrodite told you. That is the key to stopping this death. It will be caused not only by the abomination you call the Cyborg, but by the mortal god Kal-El."

"Then we won't wake him." Diana stood her ground.

"That too, would be a very bad decision. There are no good choices I'm afraid, only a bad choice, and a worse choice. Good and decency do not die, Diana. They only slumber."

"I don't understand."

"You will eventually. Hopefully before it is too late. And remember Diana, only you can save them."

"Them? We aren't just talking about Bruce anymore, are we?" Diana raised an eyebrow.

Thanatos grinned amusedly. "You catch on rather quickly, Diana. Perhaps you will be able to save the two of them after all."

"But who are they? Who am I supposed to save?"

"You must look deep into your heart, and understand theirs. Only then can you find the truth you seek."

"What are you saying?"

Suddenly a blast of thunder rumbled from the heavens. "I'm afraid I must go now, Diana. Our uncle Zeus believes I have said too much already."

"Wait! What of the Amazon that lady Aphrodite spoke off… the one who was once Henshaw's wife?"

"Only love can quell a storm of the heart." Thanatos said. Thunder blasted again, and this time lightning struck the ground powerfully. "I really must go, before I anger Zeus further. Goodbye, Diana." Then Thanatos vanished.

"Wait!" Diana pleaded. "What do you-" It was too late. Thanatos was already gone.

Only love can quell a storm of the heart. "What does that mean?" Diana muttered. Then she turned and headed out of the hallway. "Bruce. We need to talk."

_Meanwhile, at the abandoned warehouse where the Justice Lords are hiding…_

It was time. The baby was 'born.' Lord Diana held the crying newborn in her arms, cradling her affectionately. She looked to the other altered fetuses growing in the pods. "You won't be like them." Lord Diana said to the infant.

"Of course she won't." Lord Batman said flatly.

"Isn't she beautiful Bruce?" Lord Diana asked, realizing that her Bruce had hardly even looked at the child.

"She's…" Lord Bruce was quiet.

"Bruce?"

"She's chubby." Lord Bruce shrugged, and then went back to his work.

Suddenly a red and yellow birderang sailed out and struck Lord Bruce's computer, destroying it.

"What the hell?" He whipped around and was kicked by Tim Drake, suited up as Robin!

Superboy went in to hit Lord Diana, but saw that she was holding the newborn, and pulled back. "Um… I don't really want to hurt the baby, so…" He muttered awkwardly. Lord Diana and kicked him in the knee, dislocating it and putting him on the ground.

"Polite little idiot, aren't you?" She chuckled. Then Spoiler's grapple-line wrapped around Lord Diana's neck, and pulled her back. Kid Flash zoomed in and snatched the baby out of the woman's hands while Spoiler choked her.

"So… what do I do with it?" Kid Flash asked.

"Just… hold it." Robin shrugged before he was punched down by Lord Bruce.

Lord Diana grabbed the cable and jerked it forward, smashing Spoiler into a wall. Superboy began to stand, and was swept into a desk by the blur that was Johnny Quick.

Lord Batman smacked Robin down again. "You know, in my world, you died on your first night out… Tim." Lord Batman said, lifting Robin by the cape. "Clearly the Batman in this world is a bit more protective." Then he punched Robin in the stomach and threw him onto the floor, kicking him in the ribs.

He saw Superboy beginning to stand, and took out the piece of kryptonite he had taken from the beach the day Ultraman was murdered. He held it toward Superboy and watched him cringe.

"Interesting… kryptonite doesn't seem to affect you as much as it did Superman. You're only feeling a little pain." He lifted Superboy into the air. "You were a clone, no doubt. Probably several years old now. But you don't seem to have experienced any clone degeneration whatsoever… very strange. From Dagget's research, I learned how to give clones a resistance to the disease, but you seem completely immune."

"What are you rambling on about, pointy-ears?" Superboy groaned, only partly paying attention. Then he spit on Lord Batman's face. Lord Batman grimaced and balled the kryptonite up in his hand, punching the young hero in the face, creating a bruise. Then he took a blood sample from Superboy.

"I'll have to study this." He put the sample into a compartment on his utility belt.

"Hey! Where'd the kid with my baby go?" Lord Diana demanded.

"Over here!" Kid Flash yelled from behind. She looked to see him with the infant in his arms, ready to bolt out the door. Her eyes widened.

"Good job KF… this might be just what we need." Robin muttered.

"Let me and my friends go, or you never see the kid again." Kid Flash warned. Of course he was bluffing, they would give the baby back, but he needed a way out. Then Johnny Quick zoomed up behind him, and began choking him. Lord Diana took her baby back.

"What should we do with them?" Quick asked.

"If we let them go, they'll come back with reinforcements, but we have no reason to keep them around. Just dispose of them." Lord Batman said casually, sliding Robin and the unconscious Superboy over to Quick. Lord Diana kicked Spoiler over too.

"Got it… I guess it's my turn to take out the trash." Quick sighed.

_Meanwhile, at Stryker's Island Maximum Security Prison…_

Lex Luthor woke up in the medical ward, with a tube in his arm. While working in the courtyard, he had suddenly started coughing up blood, and then fainted. He could remember that much.

The doctor on duty entered in. "Hello Mr. Luthor. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like I just threw up a pint of blood for no apparent reason. What the hell happened to me out there?" Luthor demanded.

"Huh… about that Mr. Luthor… I'm afraid I have bad news."

"Well I expected that much. I haven't had good news since my court date."

"Mr. Luthor, it is my understanding that you were exposed to large amounts of kryptonite radiation before you incarceration…"

"Yes, and I got cancer from it before. But I'm cured, I know that much! And I was assured that the cancer would never come back!"

"And that's true Mr. Luthor. The cancer didn't come back. But unfortunately, cancer isn't the only problem that can arise from kryptonite radiation."

"What?"

"I believe Superman was victimized by this once… kryptonite poisoning. It's when kryptonite gets into your bloodstream, and-"

"Yes but kryptonite can kill Superman! It's his weakness! Why should I be affected by kryptonite poisoning? It shouldn't even effect humans!"

"It shouldn't, no. In most cases it wouldn't. But that's because most humans have a resistance to the rare type of radiation that comes from kryptonite. But unfortunately, the kryptonite-induced cancer that you had destroyed that part of your immunity. During that battle in Metropolis a few months ago, you were probably wounded pretty badly, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"During that time, kryptonite particulates must have entered your bloodstream through an open wound. From there, the radiation literally poisoned your blood. Haven't you been feeling ill lately, Mr. Luthor?"

"Yeah, I thought it was the prison food." Luthor said darkly. "Poisoned my blood… can't you fix that?"

"Not at this stage, I'm afraid. Honestly, Mr. Luthor, it's a miracle that you've survived this long. It's destroyed most of your organs already, it's only a matter of time before you're body shuts down."

Luthor paled. "How long? How long do I have?"

"Well really, you should be dead already. But considering you've managed to survive this long, I'd say that you have about a week, maybe a week and a half. I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor."

"A week. Maybe a week and a half." Luthor repeated. "Well then… I suppose that fits just damn fine."

"What do you mean?" The doctor asked.

"Superman. I become head of LexCorp, he becomes a damned superhero. I become President of the United States, he becomes a god among mortals. He gets frozen… and I die. No matter what happens, Superman always has it just a little bit better than I do. He's always one notch better than me."

"I'll leave you to your thoughts, Mr. Luthor." The doctor left the room.

"Not this time. I won't die first."

_Meanwhile, in the batcave…_

Helena felt every single bruise, broken bone and pulled muscle as she helped with the cleanup. Lois, who had been trying to find something to use against Denise in Batman's trophy room, was now helping too. Though her condition limited her ability to bend down and pick up. And Kara, confined to her wheelchair, wanted to help but found it difficult.

"Ow!" Lois suddenly cried, nearly doubling over.

"What's wrong?" Kara asked.

"Something hurting… God please don't let something be wrong with the baby…" She pleaded as the pain increased.

Alfred helped her toward the medical area, and soon he had on rubber gloves, a scrub top, and a mask over his mouth and nose.

"In her majesty's service, I was many things, among them a doctor. Those doctorial skills increased when master Bruce began his crusade as Batman. I am quite certain that I can help." Alfred said.

Like a skilled doctor Alfred began his examination. He seemed shocked by something. "How far along are you?" He asked.

"Only about four months, maybe four and a half." Lois sighed, still in pain.

"Strange. It seems the baby is already trying to come out." He said. "You are beginning to feel the stages of labor."

"What? How is that even possible yet…?" Lois asked.

"Wait a minute… oh no! I can't believe I forgot!" Kara shouted, smacking her palm against her forehead.

"What did you forget?" Helena raised an eyebrow.

"Well… a couple years ago… I, uh… I kind of though I might have been pregnant." Kara said, some embarrassment in her voice. "And when Clark found out, he gave some big long lecture, and during it all, he mentioned that Kryptonian pregnancies don't last as long as human pregnancies."

"What?" Lois gasped.

"Yeah. In fact, a Kryptonian pregnancy only takes about half the time that a human one would." Kara felt like an idiot for forgetting this.

"So… because Clark is the father… Lois is already having the baby?" Helena was shocked.

"Yup. Seems that way."

Alfred began preparing to deliver the child.

"Shouldn't we get her to a hospital instead?" Kara asked.

"If Kal-El was the father of this child, then master Bruce's knowledge of Kryptonian anatomy will prove invaluable. Plus, we don't want word of this reaching those undesirables causing problems for you as of late." Alfred said, and everyone realized he was right.

The old butler was ready to deliver the half-Kryptonian child into the world.

_Meanwhile, at the hospital in Coast City…_

Shayera waited outside the room where John was being treated, feeling miserable. The doctors had informed her that John's condition was getting worse, and they couldn't find anything that could defeat the poison. And she couldn't tell them what the poison really was without revealing who they were. And she certainly couldn't do that. But were secret identities really more important than John's life? At first she wanted to say the answer was no, but then she thought about everyone else who could be hurt if they did reveal their secret identities. Everyone close to her and John and would be in danger, and she decided that John probably valued the lives of his entire family over his own.

"Shayera?" A confident feminine voice asked. Shayera quickly snapped out of her trance and looked up at the woman who had approached, but wasn't sure whether she was happy about it or not. It was Mari McCabe, better known as Vixen.

"Hi Mari." Shayera said absently.

"Is John ok? I was watching the news and I saw that the Green Lantern got hurt in France, so I called J'onn and asked him about it. He told me to come here."

"John isn't doing very well." Shayera shook her head. "I'm so scared."

"Yeah, I hear you." Mari nodded.

Then there was a yell from down the hall. A southern-accented yell. Two guards walked out into the hall dragging Greg Sanders.

"Damn it let me go! My friend's in there!" He demanded loudly.

"Sir you can't see him until the doctors say so. Please wait out here, and if we have to deal with you again, you'll be out of the building." A guard said, throwing Greg over to Mari.

"Uh… I'm so sorry. I'll try to keep a better leash on him." Mari said. The guards left.

"What happened?" Shayera asked.

"I tried to get into the room and see John, they wouldn't let me." Greg shrugged. Greg went by the alias of Vigilante, and he and Mari had been dating on and off for the past few months. It was a completely unsteady relationship, just how both of them liked it.

"Since when are you and John even friends?" Mari raised an eyebrow.

"You'd be surprised how fast people can become friends when they aren't always at each other's throats." Greg smiled, flicking his eyes back and forth between Shayera and Mari.

"Any issues I have with Shayera aren't important, Greg." Mari said, but the way she said it made Shayera think otherwise. Their conflict had been mostly resolved, but not completely. Shayera and Mari had fought over John for quite a while.

"So J'onn mentioned the poison…" Mari said, changing the subject.

"Yeah. There's not really any way to reveal it without revealing who we are…" Shayera sighed.

"About that… I have a little bit of an idea. If you're willing to listen."


	12. Everything Falls Apart

Chapter Twelve: Everything Falls Apart 

The battle had been going on for several hours now, and neither Cyborg or Doomsday seemed to be tiring. Flash and Sergeant Rhodes had cleared the area of civilians, and were now doing their best to keep the fight contained in one area. They weren't doing very well.

Doomsday grabbed Cyborg by the head and rammed him down into his knee, then delivered a punch that sent the red monster sailing. Cyborg curved in the air and crashed into a billboard, then flopped down onto the concrete.

"Alright, Doomsday's winning. I suppose that's the best case scenario right now." Flash looked up at the sky. "Come on Batman… where are you with your master plan?"

Then he noticed a camera flash off to the left. Flash turned his head and saw Jimmy Olsen hiding behind a chunk of debris! Flash zoomed over to him and spoke in a coarse whisper. "What the hell are you doing here Olsen?"

"I'm getting a raise." Jimmy smiled. "Do you have any idea how much I could sell these pics for! A good photo of Doomsday alone usually gets you a hundred-thousand or so, if you go to a good paper anyway, because most photographers won't go anywhere near one of his rampages. And now I'm getting shots of him fighting some kinda' psycho robot monster! This could be my biggest payout since I got the pictures of Superman's death a couple years back!" Jimmy turned and took another picture. But this time, Cyborg saw it.

"Not too bright, are you punk?" Cyborg muttered, flying over to the area in a blur.

Cyborg then used a power he had only just discovered. Using the organic-metal compound of his armor to his advantage, he could reshape his own bodily structure to a very limited degree. He couldn't change very much, but he didn't have to either. He morphed his hand into a gleaming red blade, and lunged at Jimmy!

"No!" Rhodes used his power-suit's speed to leap in the way of the strike. The blade burrowed into Rhodes's armor, and came out his back. Blood spattered from his mouth. Cyborg laughed menacingly.

"One idiot down… two more to go!" He looked to Jimmy and Flash. Then Doomsday came in from behind and wrapped his arms around Cyborg's torso, pulling him back into a crushing knee-blow to the spine. Doomsday then threw Cyborg up in the air, and punched him as he came down.

Then something strange happened. Rhode's power-suit, still impaled on Cyborg's blade, began to… change. It seemed to be integrating itself into the Cyborg! Within seconds, the power-suit was gone, and Cyborg's size had slightly increased. Then, in the palms of his hands, he generated a powerful shock-cannon blast and struck Doomsday down!

"Hmm… this is new… but I like it!" He exclaimed. Cyborg had apparently interfaced with the power suit! "And if I can do that… what else can I absorb?" He muttered, looking around for anything else computerized! Then Doomsday let out a violent roar and broke into a sprint. "Ok, I guess I'll finish this big son of a bitch off before anything else."

_Meanwhile, in the supposedly abandoned Genetic Testing Lab operated by Cadmus…_

Galatea woke up slowly, everything taking a few moments to come into focus. She was held upright with her arms and legs in binders, in some sort of metal pod. She recognized the room she was in from the day she was 'born.' This was the lab where she had been created.

"Ah, you're awake." A nasaly voice called. She looked down and saw a short man in a lab coat, with beady eyes and a cruel grin. "I was supposed to perform the operation while you were asleep, but then I wouldn't have the pleasure of listening to a living test subject scream."

"Let me guess doc… you're going to wipe my mind? Erase my memories and then reenlist me into Cadmus?" Galatea asked. "I've heard it all before."

"I'm afraid not this time, my dear. Cadmus doesn't believe in second chances, you see. You're going to be our lab rat, nothing more, nothing less."

"Hmm. Too bad, I was looking forward to forgetting your ugly face." Galatea smiled. The scientist pushed a red button on a small remote, and Galatea felt a surging electrical shock coarse through her body. She screamed in pain, and the shock faded.

"I suggest you watch your mouth, girl. That was the shock at its lowest intensity. And trust me, you don't want to see what happens if I turn it up to ten."

There was a moment of silence as Galatea recovered. "I must say, I'm impressed at how well you've been fighting off the clone degeneration… but you don't have long left. About a day, I'd guess." The doctor said.

"A day?" Galatea gasped.

"Well look how much it's spread on you, my dear." The doctor grinned. Galatea looked down and realized for the first time that she was completely naked. And with her arms and legs bound, she was completely exposed, too. But that wasn't the part that bothered her, not at the moment anyway. What bothered her was that in the time she had been unconscious, the degeneration had spread even further. It now covered nearly everything. She looked like a corpse that had been rotting for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two, even. And it hurt. It hurt really, really bad.

"Yes, yes, a day isn't long enough though. Not long enough for all our experiments, I'm afraid. I'll have to prolong your life by a little." The doctor said, taking out a hypodermic needle. He jammed it into her arm. She felt a surge of pain go through her, but it was quickly followed by immense relief, stopping nearly all the pain. Parts of her skin began to heal, the parts that weren't too badly affected, anyway. "That should keep you alive for another couple of days, long enough for us to get done with you." The scientist said as he left the room.

Galatea sat in despair for a few minutes, utterly and bitterly alone. She thought about what she had seen while she was asleep, how Lois was giving birth. It didn't look like anything Galatea wanted to do, she was quite certain of that.

"Hello, Galatea." A new voice said from the shadows. A man stepped out, heavily bearded with big square glasses. Another scientist. This one looked familiar somehow… Galatea couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was sure that she knew this man.

"You remember me, don't you my dear?" He asked.

"Sort of." Galatea nodded weakly. "Who are you?"

"Well my dear, I was, in a way, your co-creator."

"What? No, Dr. Hamilton created me. And… and he was killed by Luthor about four months ago." She shuddered.

"You don't think Hamilton did it alone, do you? No, I was his aid. I had almost as big of a part in your creation as he did. In a way, I'm like your uncle." He said.

"My uncle?" Galatea huffed.

"Yes. Hamilton was your father, and I was, in a way, his brother."

"So why are you here?"

"To save you."

"Really?" Galatea was cynical, untrusting of the man who claimed to be her 'uncle.'

"I poured blood and sweat into you, Galatea. Not as much as Dr. Hamilton did, but all the same I don't want you to die. Not at all." He moved closer to her and drew a needle. Galatea had had more than enough of needles lately. But without another word, he stuck the needle into her… this one into her upper chest. She felt pain. Then she felt power. Like a wave of energy charging her up, making her stronger than ever.

"That should increase your powers to a level you've never imagined before… for the time being, anyway. Escape, my dear. Escape and live your life. Be free." The scientist said.

Then a gunshot rang out, and the scientist's head exploded into fountain of blood. His body toppled over. Behind him the scientist from before, holding a gun.

"No!" Galatea screamed, filled with rage. "You killed him! You bastard you killed him!" Galatea began to break free of the binders holding her, amazed at her new strength. She ripped herself free smashed her fist into the scientist, crushing his chest. He flew and crashed through a wall. An alarm sounded. Galatea turned and in a blur of amazing speed, even by her standards, she pulled on a hospital gown and punched a hole in the wall behind her, preparing to break free.

"Stop her!" Amanda Waller's voice called

A shot fired. Then something stuck into Galatea's arm. "Another stupid needle?" She shouted, reaching to rip the needle out of her shoulder. Then it hit her. A wave of nausea that caused her to lose the little food that she had eaten in the last couple of days. Then she went weak, and fell down onto the ground below, dazed. Struggling to find strength, struggling to fight off the numbness, she reached and pulled the needle out of her shoulder, standing slowly. Two soldiers ran toward her and fired off machine guns. The bullets glanced off of her skin. Galatea flew and released a wave of heat vision like nothing she had ever set loose before. Within seconds the entire facility was engulfed in flames, burning to cinders.

She sailed away from the area, breaking the sound barrier instantly. Whatever her 'uncle' had injected her with, she liked it. She knew she was even more powerful right now than Superman had ever been. But she was already feeling it ware off. It wouldn't last very long, she knew that too.

Back at the base, Amanda Waller and several scientists stood outside the ashes that had recently been their research facility.

"Should we send a team after her, Ms. Waller?" A scientist asked.

"No." Waller said confidently. "We already injected her with the Doomsday Serum. There's no sense in trying to hold her anymore, really. Just monitor her. And see what happens."

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

Lois screamed and held onto Kara's hand so tight that if the young Kryptonian

wasn't Supergirl she would be suffering a few broken bones.

"DAMN YOU CLARK!" Lois shouted as she pushed.

"Come on Miss Lane, another push." Alfred said as he studied her.

"That's what I'm DOING!" Lois shouted as she grunted and pushed again.

"The baby is crowing." Alfred said.

He reached forward and Lois felt something sort of tear. She cried as

something moved out of her. Feeling so drained she watched as Alfred went to

work. Quickly he sucked what was out of the nose and gave the baby a light

tap on the her bottom. The baby cried out and he cleaned her quickly and

brought her to Lois. Lois took the baby and smiled softly at the little

bundle.

"Congratulations." Alfred said. "It's a boy. Any ideas for a name?"

"Yes." Lois responded immediately. "Jonathon. Jonathon Kent."

_Meanwhile, at the hospital in Coast City…_

"I am not sure about this." J'onn said awkwardly.

"Why not? You want to save John don't you?" Mari asked sternly, placing her hand on her hip.

"Well yes, of course but, I still have Kyle Rayner in the watchtower medical ward, and-"

"And you said he's stable right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Good then, I think you can leave him alone for a little bit while you save John Stewart's life." Mari pushed J'onn forward.

"Are you certain this plan of yours will work?" He asked.

"Positive. I've already got Greg making a distraction in the lobby, and Shayera's getting the staff schedules right now." Mari explained.

"A distraction? What kind of distraction?"

_Meanwhile, in the lobby at the hospital in Coast City…_

Down in the lobby, Greg was creating a distraction by yelling up a southern storm at the front desk. "What the blazes is wrong with you idiots? Is this any way to treat your new manager?" He screamed.

"Sir, are you perhaps from the psych ward?" A nurse asked, trying to calm down the situation.

"Psych ward? Do I look like a psycho to you? I'm your new manager! And I demand to be given the key to my office!" Greg yelled violently.

"No, no, sir, you're not the manager." The guy at the desk said. "Just calm down and-"

"You calm down!" Greg shrieked.

"Please stop yelling and-"

"You stop yelling!"

"Sir, I'm not yelling but-"

"I'm your manager and I say you ARE yelling!" Greg demanded, crossing his arms.

"Excuse me." A man said as he approached. "Sir, I am the real manager here and-"

"What did you just say?" Greg turned, his eyes shooting daggers.

"I- uh- I'm the real manager here."

"Imposter! We got an imposter here!" Greg screamed. "Guards! Guards! Imposter!"

"What, no sir I-" The manager started to protest before Greg grabbed him and held him in a choke-hold.

"I am the head honcho at this establishment, and ain't no pretty boy like you gonna impersonate me!" Greg whispered coarsely into the man's ear.

Two guards began to close in on Greg. Greg grabbed a coffee mug off the desk and held it to the manager's head like it was a gun. "Stand back or I'll shoot him!" Greg yelled.

"Sir, that is just a coffee mug!" The guard said, holding his hands up in the air.

"I'm the manager and I say it's a gun!" Greg argued. "Now get back!"

_Meanwhile, back in the hallway at the hospital in Coast City…_

Shayera ran over to Mari and J'onn holding a file in her hand.

"Did everything go alright?" Mari asked.

"Yeah. Greg must have made one hell of a distraction, there wasn't any security at all in the room where I found this file." Shayera grinned.

"So who's the doctor operating on John later?" Mari asked.

"Dr. Drew Write. He's scheduled to operate on John in about ten minutes."

"Ok good, that should give us plenty of time." Mari grinned, looking at the doctor's picture. "Now it's time for my part in the plan."

Mari ran down the hall to the room where the doctor would be preparing for surgery, even though he had no idea what he was doing, because he had no idea what the poison killing John was. There was a sign that clearly read, **AUTHORIZED PERSONELL ONLY**.

"Come on Greg; keep the guards distracted for just a little bit longer." Mari pleaded. She was able to faintly hear Greg yelling from the lobby, something about insane manager imposters. She grinned, and picked the lock into the room.

Mari entered in. Luckily the only one in there was Drew Write. She crept up behind him and tapped on his shoulder.

"What the-" He turned around. "What are you doing in here?"

"Saving your patient's life. Hope you don't mind." Mari punched him the face, knocking him out. She then stuffed the doctor into a closet, but not before taking a picture of him with her cell phone. She then ran out into the hall and sent the picture to J'onn. "You're up green man." She grinned.

Back outside John's room, J'onn received the picture message from Mari on his cell phone. Now that he saw the picture of the doctor, he was able to change his appearance to match. Within a second, J'onn looked exactly like Dr. Drew Write!

"Good." Shayera smiled. "And you're sure you can defeat Doomsday's poison?"

"Positive." J'onn agreed. "Though I don't know what Drew Write sounds like, so I can't mimic his voice. Hopefully I can avoid talking to anyone."

"Just get in there, cure John, and then get out." Shayera pleaded.

A few minutes later, surgery began, and J'onn, disguised as the doctor, entered into the operating room to save John Stewart's life.

"We did good, Shay." Mari grinned, approaching her. "John's gonna ok."

"Yeah, and we only broke about six different laws while saving him." Shayera laughed.

"The ends justify the means, Shay." Mari shrugged.

"Think that doctor you knocked out is going to remember what you look like?" Shayera asked.

"No. With how hard I hit him, I doubt he'll be remembering much of anything when he wakes up." Mari chuckled. "I just hope Greg didn't get into too much trouble while he was creating our little distraction."

"Uh… I think you just jinxed it." Shayera said, pointing out a nearby window. "Look."

The two women looked out the window to see a group of police officers, dragging Greg into a police cruiser. Greg was shouting, "Come on, fella's! I was just kidding around!" Soon the police drove off, with Greg in the back of the car.

And Mari couldn't help it. She broke out laughing.

_Meanwhile, at the island that had served as Dagget's hideout…_

The boat pulled up on the island where Roland Dagget had been hiding out. The boat had been driven by Johnny Quick, and in the back were Spoiler, Robin, Superboy and Kid Flash, all tied up. Quick had taken the kryptonite with him, in order to keep Superboy too weak to break loose.

Johnny Quick threw the four young heroes out onto the island, and pulled the masks off of Robin, Spoiler and Kid Flash. He smiled at Stephanie in particular. "Well, aren't you a looker?" He said loudly.

"Back off, creep." Stephanie said bluntly, kicking him in the shin.

"Ouch! You little… uh." Johnny Quick backed away and tossed the lump of kryptonite at Superboy. Then he disappeared for a moment, but in a blur he was back, with a grin on his face.

"Dagget had this whole island rigged to explode, brats. And I just activated the bomb."

"Wait… so that radiation I was picking up here earlier…?" Robin asked.

"Yup. Nuclear. There's a nuclear bomb beneath the island, a big one, set to go off in five minutes. I'll be gone by then, of course. Super-brat here just got a huge dose of kryptonite, so he won't be strong enough to fly you out of here before then. And your little mini Flash can't run you all to safety in time. So I guess you're all pretty much doomed." Quick grinned wickedly.

He leaned down and kissed Stephanie on the cheek, before pulling back and slapping her across the face. "A little pleasure and a little pain, before the big boom, love." He smiled. Then he pulled out a small remote and pushed the button. The boat he had driven there exploded into a ball of fire, destroyed beyond repair.

And with that, Johnny Quick zoomed off, out of sight within half of a second.

"I really don't like him." Kid Flash groaned.

"Shut up KF." Tim snapped. "Can you get loose?"

"Of course." Kid Flash grinned and began vibrating at incredible speed, burning through the rope. Then at super speed, he untied the knots and freed Tim, Stephanie and the still unconscious Superboy.

"Quick said we had five minutes. If we can find the bomb, I might be able to disarm it." Tim said.

"It'd be easier if we he was awake." Stephanie said, kicking Superboy lightly. "We could use some x-ray vision right about now."

"I'll get looking." Kid Flash zoomed off, searching the island for any sign of a bomb.

Tim pulled out a scanner and began trying to find the source of the radiation. And Stephanie began trying to wake up Superboy.

"Tim… we're not going to find it in time, are we?" She asked grimly. Tim was silent for a long time.

"I don't know, Steph." He muttered. "But if not… I want you to know that-"

"Uh…" Superboy began to wake up. "What, where are we?" He asked weakly.

"No time. Will your x-ray vision work?" Tim asked quickly.

"Uh… not sure. That kryptonite kind of wiped me out, after being exposed to it for so long."

"Well try, or we're dead in about three minutes now!" Tim said frantically.

"Ok, there's some motivation." Superboy seemed to struggle for a minute, but scanned over the surface of the island. "What am I looking for?"

"A bomb. A big one."

"Ok, good, because that means I found it." He said.

"Where?"

"In the middle of the island, right below that lead-enforced fortress we found here."

"Great, that's only twenty minutes away!" Tim shouted.

"Call KF!" Stephanie suggested.

"How far underground is the bomb?"

"About two hundred feet."

"Uh, I hope he can get down there fast enough." Tim signaled Kid Flash on his communicator and told him where to look.

Then they waited agonizingly. "One minute left." Tim was sweating, looking down at his watch. "Come on KF… hurry up." He called the speedster again. "KF? Have you reached the bomb?"

"Uh yeah, but… how do I disarm it?"

"Uh, KF! If you were there already, why didn't you just call me and ask me to walk you through it?"

"I didn't want to sound like an idiot!"

"You ARE an idiot!"

"Tim!" Stephanie shook him to get his attention. "Focus, please."

"Right. KF, describe the circuitry to me, but do it quickly."

"Ok um, there are wires. A lot of them. And they're a lot of different colors, too."

"Could you be more specific, maybe?"

"Well, no. I probably couldn't."

"Huh… ok, send me a picture of it KF. Hurry!"

Within seconds Tim had received the photo, and immediately studied the inner workings of the bomb. He then told Kid Flash how to disarm it.

"Uh… could you repeat that?" Kid Flash asked, not able to keep up.

"Listen KF! We only have ten seconds left!"

"Ah, screw this!" Then Kid Flash hung up.

"What the- we're doomed." Tim sighed. Then the timer reached zero. Kid Flash came into focus next to them. The explosion happened, but it was several miles away!

"What? What did you do?" Tim gasped in amazement.

"I couldn't figure out how to disarm it, so I just ripped out the actual explody-part and carried to the middle of the ocean." Kid Flash shrugged.

"If you could do that, why didn't you just do it in the first place?"

"What can I say, I love drama." Kid Flash grinned.

"Alright, well now that we know we're not going to die…" Tim took out the communicator again.

"What are you doing?" Stephanie asked.

"Getting backup."

_Meanwhile, far below a condemned section of Arkham Asylum…_

A computer constantly monitored Kal-El in the cryotube. His body was completely inactive, but within his mind, because of the chip in the back of his head, he was constantly battling Doomsday in his mind. He had spent the last four and a half months subconsciously running from the evolving monster. Every time either of them, it would just start over again and the pain would continue. It was truly a fate worse than death.

Kal was completely unaware of anything that happened outside his hellish virtual reality, but as it turns it, someone was searching for him not too far away…

_Meanwhile, in the sewer system on the other side of Arkham Asylum…_

Jason and Roy trudged through the sewers anxiously. Jason was still unsure about Roy's offer, but regardless he had accepted to accompany him on this job.

"You sure this is where Superman is being held?" Roy asked.

"I worked under Batman for quite a while. I know him. He'd want Superman somewhere close to home, in case anything ever happened. He'd also want it to be somewhere where no one would ever go looking, and where it'd be somewhat difficult to escape. That all adds up to Arkham Asylum." Jason explained.

"Queen would have stored him in a maximum security containment vault." Roy shrugged.

"That's because Queen's an idiot." Jason said bluntly. "Now why are we doing this for Luthor?"

"He gave me this." Roy pulled out a dagger carved of kryptonite. "He said to plunge it into Superman's heart when we find him, and say, 'I won.'"

"I won?"

"Yeah. Luthor says Superman will know what it means. Oh, and he also wants us to cut off Superman's head and bring it to him."

"Delightful." Jason muttered.

"So you're absolutely sure this is the place, Todd?"

"Yes! We've been over this already!" Jason pulled a map he drew out of his pocket, and unfolded it against the wall. "Look, this is where we are." Jason pointed to the sewers on the map. "Now over here on the other side of the asylum, below this condemned area here, is where we'll find Superman. At the rate we're going, it'll be another hour before we get there though."

"How are you so certain about the exact spot though?" Roy demanded.

"That area is condemned for a reason. A few years ago, Arkham went under new management. And the new manager wanted a more secure area to hold the more difficult criminals, like Croc or Clayface, you know? So they asked Commissioner Gordon in person to come up with a new security plan that could adequately hold those sorts of people. And since Gordon and Batman are all buddy-buddy, Batman practically designed the entire area."

"So what went wrong?" Roy asked.

"Well long story short, the Joker started a huge uprising, took over most of the asylum. The battle in that area caused some pretty serious damage, and at the time Gotham City couldn't afford to fix it, so they just condemned that whole section of the asylum. It hasn't been touched since. Logically, that's where they would choose to hold Superman. The security there is actually still active, so even if he did wake up somehow, it would be difficult for even him to get out."

"Makes sense." Roy agreed, and the two continued through the sewer system. Then they reached a bit of a problem. Part of the tunnel had collapsed! It completely blocked their path. "Damn it. I don't suppose that's on your map, is it Todd?"

"Nope, this must have happened recently."

"Well now what? Do we just turn back?" Roy shrugged. Jason looked up and smiled. On the ceiling was a manhole cover of some sort, with a ladder for easy entrance and exit.

"Huh, maintenance is pretty sloppy, leaving their ladders that accessible." Jason pulled out the map. "This should take us right into the boiler room."

Jason climbed up first, and forcefully pried open the cover. The two exited out into the boiler room.

"What now? There are going to be guards." Roy pointed out.

"No kidding? It's an insane asylum you dumbass!" Jason walked over and pressed his air against the door. "I don't hear anyone, but you can go out and check."

"Why do I have to check?" Roy protested.

"Ladies first."

"Cute, Jason, real cute." Roy rolled his eyes, moving over to the door.

As soon as Roy opened the door, there was a guard on the other side. "What the!" The guard gasped.

"Holy crap!" Roy jumped in surprise, punching the guard down. He looked back and glared at Jason. "What the hell was that Todd? There was a guard right-frickin-there!"

"I know, I just wanted to see you scream like a little girl. And guess what, it worked." Jason smiled.

"Wow, Todd, you are such an asshole."

"I try." Jason shrugged, and the two men entered out into the hallway.

"So which way are we going?" Roy asked.

"Either left or right. That would be my guess."

"You really aren't taking this seriously at all, are you?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"You'd better start if you want to get paid."

"I'm getting paid plenty from SHIELD. I'm just doing this for thrills."

"My offer still stands you know, you could leave SHIELD and work for Luthor."

"I already told you, I'm not interested. This little job here, this is the only thing I'll ever do for Lex Luthor."

"Alright, it's your decision, Todd."

"Why do you say that like I just signed my death warrant or something?" Jason raised an eyebrow.

"No reason." Roy grinned, and Jason knew that he was hiding something. That didn't really seem like him. Not that Jason knew him all that well, but he knew Roy wasn't the bad guy. If he was keeping a life-or-death secret like Jason suspected, he must have had some pretty big motivation.

They walked a little further before Jason spoke again. "So tell me about this new drug you're on… shield. What's the big deal with it?" Roy didn't respond for a long itme.

"It's kind of like Venom." He said finally. "It increases your physical attributes to near-superhuman levels. But unlike Venom, Shield doesn't turn you into a hulking freak. Plus, it feels pretty damn good while your on it."

"And how'd you start? Not that I really care… I just want to know where the stuff comes from."

"I started not long after I got the job at Stryker's. After I kicked the heroin addiction a few years back… well, I didn't so much. The need was still there, you know? And then I started hearing about shield from the inmates, and how it seemed to improve health and all that, and I was tempted to try it, you know? So I-"

"Get on with it." Jason interrupted.

"Right. Well long story short, I get it from this guy in a mask who shows up from time to time."

"Guy in a mask? Is he by any chance… kinda' tall? With a buzz-cut and a business suit?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Roy looked surprised.

"Because he's the same guy who deploys the SHIELD team on missions." Jason said distantly, lost in thought.

"Wait, so… the drug shield, and the team SHIELD, are connected somehow?"

"Yup. I've had my suspicions for a while, but now I know it."

They reached the end of the hallway, and Jason peered around the corner, and then quickly ducked back.

"We got two guards about a hundred feet down. Their backs are to us. You take the one on the left, I'll get the one on the right." Jason instructed. Then a door began to open behind them. More guards were entering the hall behind them! Roy and Jason quickly ducked behind a pair of pillars against the wall.

"Oh shit!" Roy reached for his firearm. "Think we can take all of them?"

"Probably. But I've got a better idea." Jason pointed at an air vent on the ceiling.

He and Roy pried off the grate and climbed into the air duct just before the group of guards walked passed.

"That was close. Let's avoid hallways from now on." Roy said.

"For once we agree." Jason began crawling through the duct.

"You sure you know where you're going Todd?"

"Will you quit asking me that? I spent hours working on this map, and another hour and a half memorizing it. I know where I'm going."

"Yeah, but I doubt you took the time to map out the ventilation system. I'm just making sure. Arkham is the last place I want to get lost."

"It's not that bad." Jason shrugged. "Their sewer is actually really nice."

"What?"

"Well, compared to a lot of other sewers in Gotham, it's pretty nice."

"And you would know that… how?"

"I was living on the streets for a long time before Batman found me. I've slept in some pretty weird places, ok?"

There was another long silence, and then Jason stopped at a grate. "Here. If we drop down here, it should take us right into the condemned area." Jason said.

"Sounds good to me." Roy nodded.

Jason kicked out the grate and the two dropped out of the vents. They landed in the middle of the warden's office.

"What the hell is this, Todd?" Roy barked.

"What- I… I don't get it…" He pulled out his map and looked again. "It should be right here!"

"Well, uh, it's not." Roy said angrily.

"Yeah, I can see that. Wait a minute…" Jason looked at a map on the wall in the office. "Damn it!" He shouted.

"What?" Roy raised an eyebrow.

"This is Arkham West. We're supposed to be in Arkham North."

"Wait… are you telling me we're in the wrong damn building?"

"Yeah. Pretty much." Jason sighed.

"Well how far is Arkham North?"

"Not too far, it's just on the farthest north part of the island. Right now we're on the farthest west. It shouldn't take more than twenty five minutes to get there." Jason said.

Then the door burst open, and a swarm of thirty guards ran in with guns pointed at Jason and Roy.

"Put your hands against the wall! Both of you! You have five seconds to comply!" A guard shouted.

"Jason… you suck ass." Roy groaned, holding up his hands.

"Real mature, Roy."

"How do you not realize we're in the wrong building? There are signs all over the freakin' halls!"

"Well you're the one who said we should stay out of the halls, which is why I couldn't have seen the signs!" Jason argued.

"Well you're the one who agreed to stay out the halls!"

"Well you're the one who's a whiny little bitch!" Jason

"What does that even have to do with anything, Jason?"

"You have THREE seconds to comply!" The guard barked.

"It has to do with you being a drug-addicted bum!" Jason retorted.

"TWO seconds to comply!" The guard yelled.

"I can't believe you got us into this Todd! I'm glad you don't want to work for Luthor, I sure as hell don't want to work with you!" Roy snapped.

"Why do you think I wouldn't work for Luthor in the first place? I don't want to work with you, Harper!" Jason snapped back.

"ONE second to comply!" The guard demanded.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there." Jason yelled to the guard. He held up his hands and prepared to place them against the wall. "Wait a minute…"

"What?" The guard asked angrily.

"Well don't you want us to drop all our weapons too?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fine then, hand over all you're weapons." The guard demanded. "You first." He said, pointing to Roy. "And you, stay against the wall." He pointed to Jason.

Roy walked up reluctantly and began giving them his weapons. He handed over his bow, an AK-47, two Uzi's, four pistols, three knives, a pack of C4, and a blow-tube with poison tipped darts.

"My God…" The guard muttered as Roy shoveled out weapon after weapon.

"What? They don't call me Arsenal for nothing." Roy grinned. Then he stepped back and placed his hands on the wall.

"Now you." The guard said, pointing to Jason.

"Don't worry officer, this shouldn't take as long. I pack a lot lighter than he does." Jason said, stepping up. He handed over a couple guns and a knife.

"That it?" The guard asked.

"Well, there is one more." Jason pulled out a grenade and handed it to the guard. "Just one thing… I kind of lost the pin." Jason grinned, stepping back.

"Ah!" The guard screamed, realizing the grenade was about to explode! Instinctively he tossed the grenade back into his barricade of guards, and it exploded blowing the whole lot of them against the walls, some dead.

"Now!" Jason screamed, running and jumping out the window. Roy followed quickly, and the two landed outside.

"Quick! Which way is Arkham North?" Roy asked frantically.

"Uh… I don't know… north?" Jason said sarcastically.

"Don't be a smartass, Todd." Roy groaned, taking a moment to figure out which way was north, and then running in that direction with Jason right next to him.

An alarm sounded behind them as they ran. "How long do you think it'll be until we're surrounded?" Roy asked.

"I don't know, but not too long. That's for sure." Jason responded.

"Here… I've still got two guns concealed on me." Roy said, reaching into his boots.

"Of course you do." Jason rolled his eyes and Roy tossed him the weapon.

"You'd better not get me killed, Todd."

"Just try and keep up with me, Harper."

_Meanwhile, on the Justice League transport ship leaving Mt. St. Helens…_

"What exactly did Thanatos say?" Batman asked.

"She was pretty vague about everything. But basically, she said I have to understand the hearts of two people to save them." Diana shrugged.

"Well I can explain to you how a heart works. It's basically just an organ that pumps blood."

"I don't think that's what she meant, Bruce." Diana grinned.

"I know. Godly metaphorical crap." Batman sighed.

Diana decided to leave out the part about Bruce being destined to die, she doubted that would improve his mood any. Then his communicator went off. "It's Tim." Bruce said, answering. He talked to Tim privately for a moment, and then hung up. "Diana, do me a favor and call J'onn. Tell him to get anyone he can down to Tim Drake's location, they'll be raiding the Justice Lord's hideout-" Then the communicator rang again.

"Bruce? It's Wally." Flash said on the other end.

"What's the status on the battle?" Batman asked.

"Uh, not good. The city's pretty much destroyed, and Doomsday's losing. Cyborg started absorbing stuff and got the upper hand."

"Absorbing stuff?"

"Yeah, it's complicated. Basically, Cyborg's getting tougher, Doomsday's losing, and it looks really bad." Flash said.

"Alright, I'll-" Then Batman got another call.

"Bruce? It's Helena." She said on the other end. "I thought I'd let you know that Lois just gave birth in your cave."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's some sort of Kryptonian thing." She said. Then Batman got ANOTHER call. When he hung up this one, he put the communicator away and sighed.

"Looks like everything just went to shit all at once." He grunted. "Like I said Diana, call J'onn, but this time tell him we need a team with behind Tim Drake, a team at Jump City, and a team at Arkham Asylum. There's been a security breach there."

"Who's breaking out?" Diana asked.

"No one. But Jason Todd is breaking in."

"What? Why?"

"Well… he's with SHIELD right now…"

"And?"

"And… Arkham is where they're holding Superman."


	13. The Return

Chapter Thirteen: Return

It had been two hours since Flash had called Batman. And things hadn't improved. Doomsday stumbled back after a crushing blow from the Cyborg. He kept pounding dents into Cyborg, but he would always immediately reform and be in perfect condition again. It was almost like immortality… maybe even better.

"Man… if you don't just destroy all at once, then you can't even hurt him!" Flash exclaimed.

"Haven't you guys fought stuff like that before?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I guess we have. But they never had Superman's powers, or the ability mold their limbs into weapons, or the power to interface with anything computerized. I really don't think the JLA ever fought anything this powerful." Flash shook his head.

More punches thundered from the two beings. Cyborg threw Doomsday down and burned him into the concrete with heat vision. "This thing really killed Superman? Hah! In that case, the man of steel shouldn't be a problem for me!"

Doomsday crawled out of his smoldering crater, his oddly discolored blood running from his mouth. He charged viciously toward Cyborg. Cyborg ducked beneath the monster's punch and wrapped his steel arms around Doomsday's waist, then proceeded to do a backbend, slamming Doomsday's head into the ground behind him. Cyborg then threw Doomsday into the air, and sent a blaze of heat vision into the beast's eyes. Doomsday fell to the ground in a smoldering heap. For a moment he got to back to his feet, then he fell down again, and stayed down. Cyborg laughed.

"Oh no." Flash groaned. Then he grabbed Jimmy.

"Where are we going?" Jimmy yelled.

"Away from here!" Then Flash zoomed off.

Cyborg chuckled. "Whatever. I don't even need Olsen anymore." He interfaced with Jimmy's fall camera, going so far as to absorb it into his body. "Because with this new power, I can learn anything I need to no… from just about anywhere."

_Meanwhile, near the warehouse where the Justice Lord's are located…_

Dick, Green Arrow, Question, and Black Canary had joined up with Tim Drake, Superboy, Kid Flash, and Spoiler after Batman and J'onn had organized the teams.

"Ok, remember, there's a baby in there." Dick said. "We don't want to risk a baby getting caught up in the battle. So, when I say go, Dinah will let loose a sonic scream to disorient the lord's. During the distraction, KF will zoom in, grab the kid, and get back to us. Ollie will immediately begin attacking the lord's from a sniper position, while the rest of us break into groups. Superboy and I will go in from the left, Tim and KF will go in from the right, and Q and Stephanie will come in through the back. We hit them hard, we hit them fast, and we take them down."

_Meanwhile, inside the warehouse…_

Lord Batman finally took a break from his work on the developing super-warriors he had created. He turned and saw Lord Diana, cradling the new child in her arms. The baby was fast asleep, and the look on Lord Diana was once that the Batman had never seen before… it was not the look of a warrior, not at all. She looked like a mother.

"What are you smirking at?" Lord Diana asked him, looking up.

"Something I never thought I'd see." Lord Batman half-smiled, and turned.

"Bruce?"

"What?"

"You've hardly even looked at the baby. Don't you want to see her?"

"I'll have plenty of time to spend with her once she's old enough to train."

"But Bruce… she isn't a weapon. She's our daughter."

"She's a test tube mix of our DNA." Lord Batman snapped, and then there was silence from the both of them.

"That's pretty cold, Brucey." Johnny Quick yelled from across the room. "And Diana, have you even named her yet?"

"I- I was thinking… Martha. Named after Martha Wayne." Lord Diana said.

"No." Lord Batman barked.

"But-"

"No, Diana. The girl will not be named after my mother. The last thing I need is to be reminded of her every day… more than I already am, anyway."

Then he noticed a blur out the corner of his eye. "We've got company."

A powerful sonic scream erupted from the sky, and the three villains fell to the ground cupping their ears. Kid Flash zoomed in and snatched the baby, running her to safety. And in an instant, an arrow flew out and struck Johnny Quick, bursting open into a powerful steel net. Quick began to vibrate out of the net, but the weights on it released counter-vibrations, trapping Quick within the net!

"A net designed to counter super speeders, huh? Clever." Johnny Quick muttered before he was struck in the face with a boxing glove arrow.

"Not good." Lord Batman drew a set of baterangs.

"Where- where's the baby?" She looked around frantically.

"You're kid's safe, lady. Though I can't say the same for you." Superboy called out.

"The lord's Diana is probably the biggest threat out of the group right now. Take her down first." Dick whispered into his COM Link for the entire team to hear.

"What makes her a bigger threat than the lord's Batman?" Tim asked.

"She's a pissed of Wonder Woman with fired up maternal instincts and the will to kill." Dick responded.

"Right… yeah, we should take her down first." Tim agreed.

That was when the buzzer went off. And the tanks began to open. Seven of Lord Batman's genetically engineered warriors stepped out of their growth tanks, the only seven that were developed enough for battle. They looked similar to Diana, but their eyes glowed with the heat vision of Ultraman.

"Uh oh." Dick grumbled.

"Hey, don't suppose you accounted for this in your big master plan?" Superboy stepped back.

"Nope. Not at all." Dick shook his head.

_Meanwhile, in the woods a few miles from the Cadmus research facility…_

Galatea felt her body surge with power. If this was anything like the power Superman felt, then she could definitely understand how he lost his mind. This kind of power was maddening… it made her feel unstoppable, invincible. And she loved it. She rolled up the sleeves on the gown she had taken, and saw that the scarring from her degeneration was barely visible now. "Stuff really worked." She grinned. Remembering what the doctor had said, she knew it would only be temporary, and she planned to make good use of her time.

"I've got to find Dick." She said to herself. "But first… I've gotta get over to Hobbs Bay, I suppose." She began to fly off, but then a painful knot twisted in her stomach. She tumbled to the ground, nearly screaming. The anguish quickly spread over the rest of the her body. Her vision blurred red. Her skin felt hot. Her insides seemed to be burning, and tearing themselves apart.

"What the hell is this…?" She groaned, remembering that last needle that had been shot into her shoulder. It had said something on it… what was it? **Doom Project**…? Something like that, she decided. The pain swallowed her up, and then she blacked out.

_Meanwhile, back by SHIELD Headquarters…_

Volcana screamed, finally giving in.

"Yeah, that's what I like to hear." Breaker grinned with a cruel glow in his eyes. "Keep on screaming, and I'll break you quicker. Less painful, that way."

"Please…" Volcana said between sobs.

"Oh boy! Here comes the begging!" Breaker cheered.

"Please. I've got a kid…"

"So do I." Breaker shrugged. "Or at least I did, before I broke her."

"You sick bastard. If you think-" Volcana began to speak, but Breaker shattered what was left of her right arm.

"If I think… what? That you'll let me get away with it? Are we going with that old cliché?"

"I didn't die before, I won't die now." Volcana snapped, biting down on her lip trying to suppress any more cries.

"Ah, newsflash bitch, you only survived before because you got help! But goody- goody Guardian isn't here to save you, this time. I've got you all to myself."

Then Breaker moved to her vertebra. "Tell you what, redhead. I'll do you a favor. You see, if you tell me where your kid is, then I can kill both of you! Then you wouldn't be separated for all that long."

"Go to hell."

"Just a suggestion." Breaker shrugged, and began breaking her spine, piece by piece.

_Meanwhile, at the Arkham Island…_

Jason and Roy reached a waterfall on the side of the small mountain on Arkham Asylum. Roy looked down from the ledge they were on, and couldn't even see anything below. "Where the hell are you taking me, Todd?"

"Where you want to go." Jason said irritably, moving in behind the waterfall. Roy followed him. "Hope the old man didn't change the password." Jason mumbled, touching his finger to different places on the wall as if it were a keypad.

"Have you lost your mind? That's just a slab of rock!" Roy yelled.

"Keep quiet. There might be a vocal recognition module somewhere." Jason whispered.

"On a rock? Jason you are such a-" Before Roy could even finish his sentence, there was a blue light, and the side of the mountain began to open! It slid open revealing total darkness inside the mountain. "Jason… what is this?"

"Batman built a separate wing of the batcave through these catacombs underneath the island, for resources in case there was ever another uprising like the one before. We should be able to at least get near Arkham North without being detected through here."

The two entered into the mountain, and it closed behind them. A series of lights flicked to life along the ceiling, illuminating a long staircase. The two made their way down the staircase, and stepped out into a large cave with tiled floors. There was an arsenal of bat-weaponry along one wall, a spare costume on another, and a supercomputer in the front.

"Don't suppose he left a spare batmobile down here?" Roy flicked his eyes to Jason.

"Um… I think there was one for a little while, but it blew up or something." Jason shrugged. The two stopped by the arsenal and grabbed some baterangs, a batclaw, and some C4. Then they made their way through the small Arkham-batcave, and stepped over to a wall on the far north. Jason began placing the C4 on the stony wall. "If we blow this out, it should take us back into the sewers, but on the northern wing. From there, it won't be hard to get into Arkham North."

"Uh… more sewers." Roy shuddered. The two stepped back quite a ways, and Jason set off the C4, blasting a hole in the stone large enough to walk through. Sure enough, they stepped back out into the sewer system. "I better not get diseases from walking around down here, Todd!"

"Will you shut up already? You've done nothing but complain since we tripped the alarm."

"Complaining is my specialty." Roy shrugged, and the two started walking.

After several minutes they reached what looked like an elevator! "Why is there an elevator in a sewer beneath an insane asylum?" Roy cocked an eyebrow.

"This is part of the condemned area in Arkham North. We should be right below it now." Jason said. Roy noticed a low growl coming from some sort of door built into the wall of the sewer.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Oh that… that's where they keep Killer Croc now." Jason grinned. "And I think he's hungry." Jason suddenly shot the batclaw and used it rip open the cell door! Killer Croc came charging out!

"You! I know you're scent!" He pointed at Jason with a roar, moving in.

"Todd? What the hell are you doing?" Roy demanded, pulling out his pistol.

"You didn't really think I came along just for thrills, did you?" Jason grinned wickedly. "I don't really give a damn about Superman, or Luthor, or any of that. I just needed someone to help me get inside Arkham."

"W- Why?" Roy asked.

"Why else, Harper? I'm going to put the Joker in a coffin, where he belongs!" Jason then shoved Roy into Croc, and made a break for the elevator. The elevator had long been disabled, so Jason crawled up through a hatch in the top, and began climbing up the cable. Once he made it about halfway up, he took his knife and cut the cable below him, causing the elevator to plummet, insuring that no one could follow him. He continued heading upward… on his way to kill the clown prince of crime.

Roy ducked beneath a strike from Croc and rolled behind the attacking monster. "Damn you Todd…" He muttered, holding up his gun, aiming it Croc's back, and pulling the trigger. Nothing happened. "What?" Then he realized that all the ammunition had been removed from the weapon! "Jason, you son of a bitch!" He shouted, throwing the sabotaged gun onto the floor.

Killer Croc spun around with impressive speed, striking Roy in the chest and sending him flailing into the wall. Croc then bit Roy in the shoulder with his razor-sharpened teeth, causing blood to spatter. Roy screamed and kicked Croc in the groin, having surprisingly little effect. Croc raised Roy and threw him down the tunnel, charging with rage-fueled speed.

"Wish I had my bow." Roy grumbled, clasping his hand on his wounded shoulder. "Or any weapon at all, I guess." He did a flip over Croc and kicked him in the back of the neck, causing him to ram face first into the ground. Roy reached up and ripped a loose pipe off the wall, and held it in defense. "Me, with a busted shoulder and a pipe… verses a psychopathic gator-monster in a narrow sewer tunnel. Not liking my odds."

Up in the actual facility of Arkham North, Jason crawled up to the closed elevator door, and through a lot of effort, pried it open with a baterang just wide enough for him to slide through. The halls were empty for now, but the alarm was going nuts, and it would only be a matter of time before guards were searching the area. He stepped out into the condemned part of the asylum, illuminated only by the glow-in-the-dark smiley faces painted all over during the Joker's uprising. The area had been left in ruins, but Jason knew that most of Batman's security was still active. He also knew that Joker's cell wouldn't be too far away. And more than anything, he knew that Superman's cell would be even closer.

He drew the kryptonite dagger that Roy had brought along. The one that was supposed to have been used to kill the man of steel. "Maybe if I have time, I'll go back and stake the big blue boy scout. Maybe." He slid the dagger back into his jacket, and pulled out the pistol Roy had given him. It hadn't been easy to sabotage Roy's gun without him noticing, but he couldn't have him beating Croc too quickly, so it was worth it.

He walked for a little bit through the condemned part of the asylum, when he heard a familiar laugh. A laugh that put a sickening knot in his stomach. He peered around the corner, to where the laugh had come from. "No way…" He muttered quietly.

The first person he saw was a girl, dressed in a red and black nurses gown, horrendous clown makeup, and long blonde pigtails. Harley Quinn.

"The alarm's still goin' Mista' J. Ya' think the guards are on to us?" She asked in her annoyingly high pitched voice.

"I don't think so, not yet. And besides, if the guards in this place caught on to _this_, we'd probably have a bat-infestation by now, if ya' know what I mean." The Joker laughed.

"Joker… hiding the condemned area, huh?" Jason muttered. "Well you just made this a whole lot easier for me."

"Think of it, Harley girl. I'd have never even thought of this if it weren't for old doctor Crane." Joker chuckled. Jason looked to see that there were barrels of the drug shield in the room!

"What is he doing?" Jason readied his gun, but didn't act yet.

"We mix in a little Joker Toxin with this stuff, and release it to the masses, and BOOM! Every druggy in Gotham dies laughing!" He let out a massive laugh. "I always did get a kick outta' genocide." Joker continued working.

"But what about getting out, puddin'?" Harley asked.

"We do that tonight."

"But how? We already tried gettin' though the bats old security, remember?" In response, Joker only laughed again.

"Don't worry about the security, Harley girl. I found a little gift the bat left that should get through there pretty quickly." He said vaguely.

"Alright Joker, I've got a little gift for you too. It's all wrapped up in lead." Jason grinned, getting ready to fire. He couldn't get a clear shot at Joker, so instead he aimed for the shield, knowing the drug was flammable. He'd blow Joker to pieces. Then there was a loud growling behind him, and teeth sunk into his arm!

"Aah!" Jason screamed, looking to see a large Rottweiler attacking him. A second one came around and bit him in the ankle. Jason tumbled to the floor, trying to shake the dogs off of him.

"Hey, look puddin'! My new babies found a little peeper." Harley looked down at Jason.

Jason managed to kick the one dog off of his ankle, and then jumped to his feet, flinging the other away from his arm. He saw Arkham tags on them, and realized that they had been trained as guard dogs for the asylum. Apparently Harley had made friends with them.

"Perfect. A lab rat!" Joker struck Jason in the back of the head with a pipe, putting him in a daze. He then slammed Jason onto a table, took a needle filled with his tainted shield, and moved in to inject Jason with the drug. Jason glanced and saw his gun lying on the floor a few feet away.

"Damn." He quickly reached inside his jacket and grabbed the kryptonite dagger, jamming it into Joker's thigh. Joker yelped and stumbled back, and Jason spun around on the table, kicking the clown in the stomach!

"You don't even remember me, do you?" Jason asked, anger lining his voice. "Maybe it would help if I was wearing the Red Hood getup?"

"Red Hood? Ah yes, you're the motorcycle-fetish runt who decided to use my old name!" Joker laughed.

"Yeah. And you killed me once." Jason clenched his fists. "Now I'm here to return the favor."

Jason swung a punch at Joker, but the clown prince of crime had surprisingly good reflexes, dodging to the side and punching Jason in the cheek. Harley did a cartwheel and picked up Jason's fallen gun, and aimed it at him. Jason grabbed Joker and flipped him over his back, quickly holding him up like a human shield! He found the kryptonite dagger again and held it at Joker's throat.

"What now? You're just gonna slice me up? Real original." Joker muttered sarcastically.

"No. That wouldn't be good enough. You deserve to suffer." Jason said. Then there was a crash, and a section of the floor caved in behind them! Jason turned his head to see Killer Croc crawling up through the hole, screaming bloody murder. There was a pipe jammed horizontally in his mouth, while the two ends of the pipe were being held by Roy, who was pretty much riding on Croc's back, using the pipe to steer him! Croc flailed his arms viciously, but couldn't manage to get Roy off of him.

The dogs attacked, but Croc simply swatted them away. Roy then did a flip off of Croc, kicking him straight into Harley Quinn, taking her out. "Jason! You're dead!" He yelled, glaring at the man holding the knife at Joker's throat.

"Catch!" Jason shoved Joker into Roy, and then hurled the dagger, planning to impale them both!

Then there was a gunshot, and a bullet struck the dagger, sending it off course. Jason, Joker and Roy all looked to where the shot had come from, and saw the Vigilante facing them down! Behind him were Vixen, Hawkgirl, and the J'onn.

"You'd be quite the bull rider, Roy!" Vigilante yelled. "Hell, after how you just rode Croc across the room, I'd say you might be on par with me!"

"What the hell are they doing here?" Jason yelled.

"I don't know. But Judging by the odds right now… I'm on there side." Roy grinned, kicking Jason in the chest and knocking him into a table.

"Yup. This is definitely what Batman was talking about." Vixen nodded.

"Let's make it quick. I want to be back at the hospital before visiting hours are over." Hawkgirl held up her mace, ready for battle.

Guards began storming the room, drawn in by all the commotion. "Well this is quite the party!" Joker announced, backing up toward a door. "Don't suppose you'll care if I invite one more person…" Joker laughed, kicking the door in. Behind it was a high-tech cryotube, but a series of drones monitoring it.

"No! Stop him now!" Hawkgirl screamed. J'onn flew to the area, but he was too late. Joker ripped open the cryotube. A steel-like hand suddenly clenched around his throat. The man inside's eyes opened slowly, and he sat up, raising Joker into the air.

"W-welcome to the party. Did ya' bring snacks?" Joker choked out.

"Shut up." The man threw Joker across the room, and levitated into the air. Alarms began blaring inside the room. The drones started to fire off weapons, but the man quickly destroyed them. Guards opened fire on him, but the bullets simply glanced off of his skin. He noticed J'onn flying toward him, and fired a beam of heat vision into the barrels of shield in the room, creating a huge explosion. The fire caught J'onn, causing him to scream in agony and fall to the ground.

The man scanned the room with a look of superiority in his eyes.

"Oh no…" Vixen groaned.

"Well this is not good in the least." Vigilante stepped back a little.

Superman clenched his fists and smiled. "Ah, it's good to be back. And as for the rest of you… welcome to hell!"


	14. Monsters

Chapter Fourteen: Monsters 

Darkness. That was all that filled the void in which Volcana drifted. The darkness enveloped her, swallowing her up. Slowly she grew colder and colder. A strange sensation came over her. The sensation of pleasure mixed with terror, of relief mixed with suffering. The feeling of death.

"Anthony…" Volcana muttered the name of her son, wanting nothing more than to see him again. "Anthony!" Then there was a light. A woman appeared in the darkness, with lush black hair, and bright golden wings.

"Hello child." Thanatos said warmly.

"Are- Are you an angel?" Volcana asked.

"Hmm. To some, yes. I suppose so."

"Why… why are you here? What's going on? Am I dead?"

"No. And yes, too. You are in a state between life and death. Not alive, but awaiting your final judgment. Only once it is passed, can you truly pass into the realm of death."

"No… no please." Volcana began to cry. "I can't…"

"I am so sorry, child. But I fear that it is your time." Thanatos touched her hand to Volcana's cheek. "However, there is another alternative."

"Please. I'll do anything!"

"It won't be like your old life. It could be better, it could be worse. That depends on how you choose to view it."

"Anything." Volcana repeated.

"You have committed many wrongs, child. You have done many… unfavorable things. But then there is Anthony."

"Anthony! My son." Volcana nodded, sobbing.

"You are, despite your wrongs, a good mother. It has been difficult raising Anthony, but you have done your best. And for that, you will be rewarded."

"Please… I just want to see him again."

"And you will, child. I promise you that. But first, you must begin your new life."

"What does that mean?"

"That explanation must come from a power greater than myself. She awaits you."

"Who awaits me?" Volcana demanded, but Thanatos vanished. Then there was another light, a brighter light… painfully bright, in fact. Volcana shielded her eyes, but it was no good. She felt her body burning up, disintegrating!

"What? Stop! No!" She screamed.

"Do not be afraid." A soothing voice called from the light. "This is no end, only a beginning. For to begin your new life, you must first shed the old skin."

"W- Who are you?"

"My name is Hera." The voice said. "And I welcome you to paradise."

_Meanwhile, back at the old warehouse…_

Dick sailed into the concrete wall behind him. Being punched by the clone had been the equivalent of being run over by a freight train, he guessed.

"Hey, um, Dick… now might be a bad time to tell you, but… we're losing!" Tim shouted, doing an acrobatic flip to avoid a blast of heat vision.

"I know." Dick crawled to his feet. "This is like fighting seven Superman's!"

"Seven really hot female Superman's." Kid Flash added.

The seven modified clones had made short work of the heroes so far, and were smacking them around like they were nothing.

Superboy got to his feet and wiped blood from his chin. He had a black eye and a bruised cheek, but nonetheless there was a grin on his face. "No." He said loudly. "Not seven Superman's. Seven Ultraman's!"

"What are you saying?" Spoiler demanded, throwing a smoke capsule into the face of an oncoming clone.

"Wait a minute… he's saying that Ultraman's weaknesses were reversed!" Tim yelled, slapping himself in the forehead. "Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

"What? I don't get it?" Black Canary asked.

"Yeah, so they aren't hurt by kryptonite. How does that help us?" Green Arrow added.

"Because they get stronger from exposure to kryptonite…" Superboy started.

"But they get weaker from exposure to the sun!" Tim finished.

"Of course!" Dick grinned.

"Yeah, wonderful, except the weather is cloudy with a chance of thunder storms!" Question interjected.

"He's right. It's kind of useless to us right now." Black Canary nodded.

"Superboy, Stephanie and KF, you're with me!" Tim shouted. "The rest of you, hold of these clones for just a few more minutes!"

"What for?" Green Arrow yelled, pumping arrows into two clones who were moving in on him.

"I've got a plan. I'm serious, just hold them back for a little bit everyone!" Tim pleaded.

"I hope you know what you're doing kid." Black Canary groaned.

"I always do." Tim grinned.

"Leave it to us." KF gave a thumbs up.

"Oh, and don't call us kids." Superboy added. Then the four young heroes headed out of the warehouse.

"Hey KF, what did you do with that baby?" Stephanie asked.

"Oh, her. I laid her down in the ship that Dick and the others came in. She's sleeping like… well, like a baby."

"You put her to sleep that fast?"

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to rock a baby to sleep at a hundred miles an hour."

"Poor kid's probably gonna have brain damage." Robin muttered.

"What? I was gentle with her!" KF argued.

"So what is the big master plan anyway, Robin?" Superboy asked.

"Ok, everybody listen up." He grinned.

Back inside the warehouse, things were going from bad to worse. Black Canary let loose one final sonic scream, blowing the eardrums out of several clones. She then collapsed under the stress of using the scream so much. Green Arrow caught and set her down in the corner. When he looked back, he was punched in the face by a clone. He fell down and kicked the clone in the knee, nearly breaking his foot on the impact. He stabbed an arrow into the clone's stomach, and then kicked her back. The arrow blew up, finally killing one of the clones!

"One super-ultra-wonder-whatever clone down. Six more to go." He sighed.

"Did you have to kill her, Ollie?" Dick asked, doing a flip and kicking a clone in the face.

"Her? Dick, you know these are just clones, right?"

"Yeah but… clones can be people in their own right. I've seen that myself." Dick said distantly.

"Oh, right. Forgot about Galatea. Sorry Dick." Green Arrow shrugged.

Dick then ducked underneath a ray of heat vision, snapping him back into focus. "Now isn't a good time to dwell on it, I suppose." He moved in with his escrima sticks and went into combat, with Green Arrow and Question right behind him. There was a blur, and a clone came around back, preparing to strike Question down!

"Vic!" Green Arrow yelled, jumping in the way and holding his bow in defense. The clone's fist smashed into the bow, snapping it in half. The impact blew Arrow and Q backward.

"Uh… thanks, Queen." Question said.

"You owe me." Arrow said. The two then rolled apart just as heat vision struck the ground where they had been laying. Green Arrow pulled a boxing glove arrow from his quiver and threw it like a javelin. It activated upon impact and struck the clone square in the face.

Then a shadow passed over him. He glanced back to see a clone less than two feet behind him, preparing to fire heat vision at point blank! Oliver braced himself for the blast, but then there was a surging electrical noise, and a bright flash behind the clone. The clone then fell to the ground in a smoldering heap, and Question was standing behind it holding a severed electrical coil which he had jammed into the clone's back!

"We're even." Q said. Then he dropped the coil, slid his hands into his jacket pockets, and walked away whistling.

"What a jackass." Green Arrow laughed, and continued on.

"Two down. Five more to go. Only three of us left." Dick said to himself. "Ollie lost his bow, and Q can't just fry all of them. So I'm not really liking our odds right now." He dodged a kick from a clone and rolled away. "Come on Tim… whatever you're gonna do, you'd better do it fast!"

Outside, Stephanie was hacking into the control box to the warehouse, tampering with the wires and such. She knew her timing had to be perfect, or Tim's plan wouldn't work. She was just about finished, when a lasso wrapped around her arm, and jerked her back! She flew into a nearby wall, and once her vision recovered from the impact, she looked to see Lord Wonder Woman attacking her.

Stephanie ducked to dodge the woman's punch, and rolled behind her, threw an explosive pellet toward her. There was a blast, but the evil Wonder Woman walked out of the blaze almost unharmed, albeit covered in soot. She grabbed Stephanie by the throat and began to choke her.

"You annoying little bitch! Where – is – Martha?"

"Uh… y- you mean the baby?" Stephanie managed. Lord Wonder Woman smashed Stephanie into the concrete, and placed her foot threateningly on her chest. Stephanie tried to pry the woman's foot off of her, but could not.

"Where? Tell me now, or I'll stomp so hard you'll be strapping bras onto your back!" Lord Wonder Woman screamed.

"Somewhere a lot safer than in your arms, that's for sure."

"Shut up!" Lord Wonder Woman stepped harder, pushing Stephanie further into the ground and cutting off her breathing. "You cannot take her away from me!"

"Yeah… because _you're _mother of the year, right?"

"Aah!" Lord Wonder Woman lifted Stephanie and threw her into the control box, denting the metal. "I'll rip you in half!"

"Wow, you're a _great _role model for a kid, aren't you?" Stephanie taunted, wiping blood from her mouth.

"Shut up!" Lord Wonder Woman swung a punch at the younger girl. Stephanie ducked to the side and kicked out the woman's legs, causing her to fall face first into the metal frame of the control box. Stephanie pulled out a remote control and quickly sent in a command to her recently-constructed motorcycle. Lord Wonder Woman charged, when an engine roared, and then a large purple bike sailed into the air and struck the woman in the head! She was rammed into a wall by the motorcycle, and the tire continued to rotate across her face!

Lord Wonder Woman yelled in rage and threw the vehicle, blood running from her nose and tread marks on her face! A smoke pellet rolled out near her feet, and went off, shrouding her in thick black smoke. When the smoke cleared, she was kicked in the face by Stephanie's steel toed boot!

The evil woman did a roundhouse kick and struck Stephanie in the shoulder, and could hear the shoulder dislocate. Stephanie stumbled down, and Lord Wonder Woman took her razor headband, and jammed it into Stephanie's other arm! The blade wedged her arm into the concrete wall behind it, blood poured. Stephanie screamed in agony, her face contorting, her vision turning red.

"I'm going to cut you to pieces!" The lord screamed. "Any last words?"

"H- Have – a nice – ride." Stephanie managed to say. Then there was the sound of the motorcycle roaring to life again, and Lord Wonder Woman felt a bit of a tugging.

"What the-" The woman looked down and saw that her own fallen lasso had wrapped around her ankle! In horror, she looked to see that the other end of the lasso had been tied to the motorcycle!

"What do you think I was doing while you were in that haze of smoke?" Stephanie grinned, still wincing from the pain in her arm. With her free hand, she pressed one last button on the remote. "Bye, bye."

The purple vehicle took off, going from zero to sixty in a matter of seconds, dragging Lord Wonder Woman forcefully behind it! Lord Wonder Woman finally managed to grab the lasso and pull the bike toward her, preparing to break it in half. But the moment she was in contact with it, Stephanie entered in another command on the remote. A self destruct code! The vehicle burst into flames, and Lord Wonder Woman stumbled out of the blast, just before falling unconscious.

"Hah… take this as a lesson… don't EVER call me a bitch." Stephanie gasped triumphantly. Hesitantly, she reached over and ripped the headband out of her arm, and screamed. It hurt as much coming out as it did going in. Stephanie hobbled forward, doing her best to ignore the pain. She made her way over to the control box. She still had a job to do.

In the ship that Dick, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Question had arrived in, Tim Drake was finishing up his own part of the plan. His job was actually easier than anyone else's, he pretty much just had to get the ship moving really fast. Luckily it was flown by large turbines on the sides, just what he needed at the moment. He made sure the baby was secure before preparing to take off, when a baterang sailed into the control panel. Tim whipped around to see Lord Batman in the room, a dark expression on his face.

"I don't think so, brat." He said strongly.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Tim sighed. "You know, sell girl scout cookies or something?"

"You're a bit mouthier than the Tim Drake in my world was. The Batman in this world is far too soft, isn't he? I suppose I'll have to teach you some manners."

"I'll take that as a no on the cookies." Tim threw a birderang into a pipe on the ceiling, causing it to burst into a cloud of gas, blinding Lord Batman. He quickly activated a sensory system on his cowl that would allow him to see through heat signatures. The first thing he saw was Tim Drake's foot being planted into his face! He stumbled back into the doorway, and dodged a punch from the boy wonder, delivering a fist of his own into the young hero's stomach. Tim gasped and did a flip, backing away. He blocked a karate chop from Lord Batman, but failed to stop a blow to the ribs.

"You're also a lot sloppier than my Tim Drake was. You're fighting style is unrefined. You haven't practiced nearly enough." Lord Batman criticized.

"Shut up!" Tim yelled. Not his most clever response, but he was happy with it at the moment.

He kicked toward Lord Batman, but his leg was grabbed and twisted around painfully. He then threw Tim into the consol.

"What do you want anyway? So you've got a team of Ultraman-Women. What's the point?"

"The point? The point is domination! There were eight of you heroes in that warehouse, and you were no match for a mere seven of my clones! I can make more… just imagine how much damage a thousand of them could do! A hundred thousand! A million! I'll be unstoppable. I'll craft this world into something better."

"Better? How the hell is a worldwide dictatorship better? You'll rule with fear and nothing else!"

"Yes, and that's the point! If people are afraid, they won't act out. It will be a better world! A world where no innocent eight year old boy will ever have to watch his parents murdered, by some punk with a gun!"

"So that's it? It's all for mommy and daddy?" Tim taunted. "I'm sure they'd be real proud of you. I bet they'd just love living in a world where you rule everyone with an iron fist!"

"I'll tear you apart, brat!" Lord Batman was angered, just as Tim had planned. But he was a lot faster than Tim had planned. He grabbed the young hero by the cape and slammed him head first into a wall, then smashed his face through the window! Tim jabbed his elbow back, striking Lord Batman in the ribs. This caused Lord Batman to loosen his grip, and Tim flung his head back, hitting Lord Batman in the jaw. He did a flip and grabbed Lord Batman by the shoulder, throwing him through the doorway.

The villain stood slowly, and heard crying on the other end of the ship. "Enough of this. I need to get what I came for." He ran back and retrieved the baby, picking her up by one arm. "This is all I need." He threw a flash grenade out toward Tim. When the flash cleared and Tim's vision came back into focus, Lord Batman was gone. And so was the baby.

"Huh… I'll have to deal with it later." Tim went back to the control panel, which had been destroyed by the baterang. "Well, this will make it a lot harder to operate." He groaned, managing to get the ship off the ground. He raised the ship up into the clouds, and got the turbines going as fast as he could.

"Judging by the time of day… the sun should be right – about – here." Tim began spinning the ship, rotating it as fast as he could. The wind from the turbines began blowing the clouds apart, and bright rays of sunlight began shining through onto the warehouse. "Come on guys… hurry up." Tim pleaded, waiting for the others to get their parts of the plan done with.

Stephanie pulled through first. She had finished hacking the control box, and the roof of the warehouse began to open up! Soon it had completely parted, and the sun was shining directly into the warehouse. But it wasn't good enough yet.

"Come on KF… Superboy… hurry up! We need you!" Tim said to the empty air. Finally, after another minute of waiting, it happened.

Kid Flash soared across the water at incredible speed, and he spun around quickly, blowing a torrent of water up into the air. Once he was sure he had enough water, he began running in a perfect circle beneath it, raising the circle of water higher into the air! And then Superboy jumped in, releasing a wave of freeze breath.

He iced the floating water over, creating a flying disk of ice! It was still being kept in the air by KF, and Superboy flew in and tilted it, so that it reflected the sunlight like a laser directly into the warehouse!

The light shone brightly onto the clones, completely weakening them.

"Yes! They did it!" Dick shouted.

"Pretty clever, kids." Green Arrow grinned.

The clones seemed to physically be depleted of their strength by the reflected sunlight. Then something unexpected happened. The clones began to smolder, and then burn! The light disintegrated them! They soon became little more than piles of ashes.

"What the hell just happened?" Dick asked,

"Looks like Lord Batman never had a chance to perfect his clones." Question stated.

Soon the four young heroes entered back into the room. Stephanie's arm was bleeding heavily, but Tim had already begun patching the wound up.

"Good job kids." Green Arrow said, and Superboy immediately shot him a violent glare.

"Uh… good job, guys?" Green Arrow corrected himself.

"Better." Superboy shrugged.

"Lord Batman got away with the baby." Tim said.

"Johnny Quick is gone too." Dick noticed, and everyone was surprised to see that the net was empty.

"Lord Wonder Woman probably got away too, then." Stephanie sighed.

"Well we can still destroy all of their work here. It will take the lord's Batman months to get this kind of operation going again." Question pointed out.

"That should give us plenty of time to track them down before they become a problem again." Superboy agreed.

"Well then, let's get to the destruction!" Kid Flash grinned.

_Meanwhile, in a small village in Tibet…_

Galatea woke up slowly, her vision blurry at first. Fires blazed around her. She smelled death. She sat up and looked around. She had absolutely no idea where she was. There were mountains in the area, and she could tell that it would have been cold, except for the fire. There were large fires blazing all around her, stoked by the heavy winds. Wooden huts burned to cinders. And there were bodies. Recently dead bodies littered the ground. They didn't look American. Maybe Asian? She didn't want to look at the corpses long enough to know for sure.

"What the hell happened here? How did I get here?" She asked to the open air.

She heard a faint whimpering, and looked over to see a little girl shivering next to a burning house.

"Excuse me?" Galatea walked over to the girl. "Excuse me, where am I right now?"

The girl responded frantically, in a language that was not English. Thinking back to her Cadmus training, Galatea quickly identified the language as Tibetan. "Tibetan? Am I… Oh my God how did I get in Tibet?" She muttered.

She looked to the little girl, and for the first time ever, she was thankful that she had spent time with Cadmus. In her training, she had been taught nearly every known language in the history of planet Earth. So speaking fluent Tibetan, Galatea asked the little what had happened.

The girl backed away in terror, shivering. She kept screaming the same word over and over again. In English, the word would translate into "monster." Then the little girl ran way into the darkness.

"Wait!" Galatea called, still speaking Tibetan. But the girl was already out of sight. Switching back to English, Galatea muttered in confusion. "Monster? What did she mean by that?" She looked around at the carnage surrounding her. Then she looked down. And for the first time, Galatea noticed that she was covered in blood. Not her blood, either. She knew that because there wasn't a single scratch on her body. At yet she was soaked in the crimson liquid. "Oh no…" Galatea began trembling. "What did I do?"

_Meanwhile, on a JLA ship flying toward Arkham Asylum…_

Batman and Wonder Woman had dropped all of the Meta-Gene Containment Prisoners off at a hospital, and then took off toward Gotham. During the flight, Batman received a distress call from Shayera.

"Bruce! This is bad! Superman… he's awake!" She said, terror in her voice.

"I know. My personal alarm went off as soon as the cryotube was opened. What's the situation?" Batman demanding, trying to remain calm.

"He's tearing apart the guards. J'onn is recovering from an explosion, he should be back in the fight in a couple minutes. Vixen and Vigilante are moving in right now, I'm going with them."

"What about Jason and Roy?"

"Actually I think they were about to kill each other when we showed up. Roy seems to be on our side right now, Jason kind of disappeared. I'm not quite sure where he ran off to."

"Be careful. And keep Superman there as long as you can. I'm on my way right now."

"Ok. I'll do my best. Hurry, though." Shayera hung up.

Batman noticed Wonder Woman in the corner. She was pale, and shivering.

"Diana? What's wrong?"

"Superman. He's really awake?" She asked, her voice shaky.

"Yeah. Hopefully not for long, though."

"Bruce… Oh gods… I'm so scared."

"Diana-"

"You have no idea how bad it was Bruce. He beat me, he blinded me, and he raped me. I'm happy that I have so little memory of it, considering I was kind of dead for most of it. But Bruce… I'm so afraid." She quivered.

"It's alright Diana. I won't let him touch you, I promise."

"Bruce, I don't want to go."

"What? You could be a great asset, if-"

"No Bruce, please. Drop me off. Please."

"Ok." Batman finally agreed. "What are you going to do?"

"I need to go to Themyscira. Some of the answers we need lie there." Diana said with a relieved look on her face. Batman opened up the hatch. "Be careful." She told him.

"I will." He assured her. "See you soon."

She nodded and exited the ship through the hatch. Batman continued on his way, when he received another call, this one from Flash.

"Flash, what's the status on the battle in Jump City?"

"It's over. Doomsday lost."

"What? Already?"

"Yeah, it was ridiculous, Bruce. Cyborg is getting more and more powerful all the time. We have to stop him soon, or else we won't be able to!"

"Where's Jimmy?"

"He's safe. I ran him home. I don't even think Cyborg will be after him anymore, considering he learned how to interface with computers. He can probably just absorb the internet or whatever and figure out everything he wants to know."

"Not everything. He won't be able to find where Superman was being held, but he should definitely be able to find the story of him going rogue."

"Hold on… where he _was _being held? Like, past tense?"

"Yes. He was released just a little bit ago."

"Man, this just keeps getting worse and worse."

"I was considering waking him up anyway. But this was a bad way for it to go down. I'm on my way right now; I'll try and subdue him."

"Ok… where is it? I'll be down there right away."

"You sure?"

"I don't have anything better to do."

"Arkham Asylum."

"Great. Race you there, bats."

"Not the time Wally. Batman out-"

"Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"Is- is Linda ok?"

"We got her to a hospital, Wally. She was actually in very good condition, she just needs to eat and she should be fine."

"Good. See you at the madhouse." Wally hung up.

"Alright." Batman sped up the ship. "Let's finish this."

_Meanwhile, at Arkham Asylum, in the condemned area of the Arkham North building…_

Superman smiled maniacally. Free again, he thought. Able to do whatever the hell he wanted to again. He had a list of people he wanted to visit first, and how he wanted to kill them. Bruce was first, of course. He had underestimated the bat last time. That would not happen again. He would crush Bruce as painfully as possible. And as he lay dying, Superman would take Diana and make Bruce watch. Then he would probably kill her too. Next on the list was Kara. He wanted to watch her suffer. Kryptonite maybe? Then there was Luthor. He would make Luthor's death quick, though. After all, it was because of Luthor that he actually had the will to do any of this. He owed the man a quick death.

But first, he had to get out of this hellhole. He quickly tore through the guards, dropping them like flies. Killer Croc charged, a look of hatred in his eyes. "Tic toc, tic toc! Time to feed the croc!" The images of Doomsday flashed in Superman's mind… that damned creature who had been killing for almost five months now!

"Get away from me!" Superman screamed, unleashing a torrent of heat vision onto Killer Croc, he stumbled back. Seeing no apparent way to win, Croc did the second most instinctive thing he could… he ran back into the sewers. Hawkgirl struck Superman in the back of the head with her mace, nearly knocking him over. He quickly decided that she wasn't going to do that again. He grabbed her and snapped her wrist, causing her to drop the mace. Then he threw her right into the oncoming Vixen. Vigilante came into view, and fired a bullet right between Superman's eyes. The idiot. Superman quickly smacked him down too.

Jason spotted the kryptonite blade on the floor. Killing Superman wasn't very high on his list, but he knew that if he wanted his vengeance, he was going to have to take out the man of steel first. He reached for the dagger. Superman spotted him and flew in at super speed. Jason did a flip just as Superman was landing, and in the brief struggle he managed to break a piece off of the dagger. He then quickly attached it to one of Batman's sonic baterangs, which he had stolen from the arsenal in the mini-batcave below. He threw the device toward Superman.

Just as he had expected, Superman dodged. And the baterang exploded into a high-pitched sonic burst, sending the chunk of kryptonite straight toward the former hero. Superman fired a beam of heat vision and struck the chunk, causing it to burst into a bright green light. When the light faded, Superman was headed into the sewers!

"Stop him! We can't let him get away!" Hawkgirl screamed.

J'onn flew in next to Superman, invisible. But at the last instant, Superman spun around and blasted J'onn with heat vision. "I can still hear you whether you're visible or not, idiot!"

There was a familiar red blur off to the left. "Flash." Superman's eyes narrowed. "This time I'll kill you, West!"

"Funny. I think you've said that before." Flash responded.

Then there was a rumbling above, and a JLA ship arrived overhead! Batman descended. "It's over, Kal!" He called.

"Bruce… It's about time! It just wouldn't be a party without your sorry ass here to kick!" Superman called. But he quickly noticed that he was being surrounded. Batman, Flash, J'onn, Hawkgirl, Vixen, Vigilante, Arsenal, and Jason Todd were all closing in on him.

"Damn it. I might not be able to win this one. Not right now anyway." Superman began to back off. "I'll see you again real soon, Bruce!" Then he flashed a bright flare of heat vision, momentarily blinding everyone. And taking this opportunity, Superman flew down into the sewer tunnel.

"After him!" Batman ordered "Surround all possible exits! We cannot let him roam free again!"

_Meanwhile, at a Cadmus base…_

Cadmus scientists lay dead all over the room, torn apart by Cyborg. Cyborg found the main supercomputer in the building, and touched his hand to it. Immediately Cyborg began interfacing with the device, stealing every bit of information stored inside. Within seconds, he destroyed the computer, and stepped away laughing.

"Cadmus knows quite a bit." He chuckled happily. "Clark Kent huh… and the whole thing about Superman going rogue, guess that was true. I need a bit more info though… and I know just where to get it." Cyborg then flew off, headed to Wayne Manor!


	15. Changing Tides

**I apologize again for the slow update. I've been having trouble balancing writing with everything else lately, I just haven't been able to find as much time to work on this. I'll try to update within two days from now on, and please hold me to it! Thanks for all the great reviews, keep on reading!**

Chapter Fifteen: Changing Tides

Superman soared through the sewer tunnel, but then stopped, hesitant. He despised Batman, but respected his intelligence. Superman wasn't stupid either, though. He knew that if Bruce put him in Arkham, it was because the place had the potential to hold him forever. He guessed that the majority of Batman's security would be above, but still, he had to be careful. He scanned the area with his x-ray vision. Lead. "Of course… Bruce even put lead in the sewers! Almost like he designed this area in advance, just in case it ever had to hold me…"

He moved on forward, cautiously, when he began to hear footsteps approaching from the entrance. That wasn't too big of a problem, he decided. Superman was certain that he could handle any of the present heroes if it was one-on-one. It was when they began to group together that they became a problem. He knew Bruce would have people guarding all possible exits, meaning that they would be scattered. That was good. Divide and conquer. So if he could just get through the security, he was in the clear. Taking a chance, Superman rocketed through the tunnel. He knew Jason and Roy had just come through this way, plus Croc had run ahead of him, and there hadn't been any traps triggered in the area, so he figured he would be ok.

Then there was a loud beeping sound. **"Kryptonian DNA Detected. Activating Anti-Escape Defense." **An automated voice announced. Then pockets in the walls began to open up, revealing kryptonite spikes!

"Ah!" Superman tumbled into the waters beneath him. The walls began to close in on him, the kryptonite spikes still protruding. Superman, thinking through the pain, decided he had about twenty seconds to make it out somehow. He looked around frantically and spotted a pipe, and smelled oil. An old gasworks pipe, he guessed. He reached out, and pulling out every ounce of strength he could muster through the kryptonite radiation, ripped the pipe. Thick black oil began leaking out. Superman fired a faint beam of heat vision into the oil. And then there was an explosion. The fire engulfed everything for a moment. Superman felt pain, his invulnerability greatly reduced by the kryptonite. He began to bleed and scream. The floor gave out beneath him, and he broke into a free fall.

After several seconds of regaining his composure, Superman got to his feet and looked around. He had fallen into some old catacombs beneath even the sewer system. Chunks of kryptonite began to fall in shambles around him, but quickly ducked into a little cavern and began edging along the inside wall, away from the glowing green rocks. Once in an open area again, he scanned around with his x-ray vision, and was able to see out around the asylum. No lead this time. "Even the bat didn't reinforce this place, huh? Maybe… he didn't even know about it." Superman grinned. "And if the bat didn't know about it, chances are no one else knows about it either. Which means I might just be in the clear, down here."

Soon Superman was too far away for the firelight to illuminate the caves, and he had to rely on touch alone.

"Figures. I get all these amazing ocular abilities; heat vision, x-ray vision, super vision, but NO night vision whatsoever." He complained, feeling his way along the wall. Suddenly, he saw something stepping out of the shadows. He saw it plain as day. He saw Doomsday! The creature punched Superman into the far wall. "Get away from me!" Superman shrieked, flying in to punch the creature. As usual, hitting him felt like hitting a rock wall. But this felt a little too much like it…

A funny thought occurred to Superman. If he couldn't see anything else in the cave around him, why would he be able to see Doomsday so easily? Superman's eyes widened at the sudden realization, and he touched the back of his head, where the chip in his brain was. The one that had been causing his psyche to see Doomsday the whole time he was frozen. "Wait… this damn chip! It's still affecting me!" Superman backed away from the creature that wasn't really there. Once his mind began to buzz with this thought, the image faded. "Guess I have to keep my mind active, or else the visions start." Superman muttered.

He heard more footsteps above, and he figured someone would find the entrance into the caves soon enough. Time to move on. He smashed his way through the cave roof and flew out onto the island, looking into the sea ahead of him. Superman grinned. "Almost free. Then the killing starts."

He soared toward the waters, but was then struck in the back by a mace. He tumbled to the ground, and then rolled out of the way of Hawkgirl's next strike. "You should've stayed in the cryotube, for your own sake!" She threatened.

"You really think you can intimidate me, Shayera?" Superman chuckled. "You're nothing but a glorified pigeon with a mace and anger management issues!"

"Really Clark? You even make trash-talk sound boring!" Flash called, zooming up a few feet behind the man of steel.

"Bring it. I can take you both on." Superman said confidently, glancing between Flash and Hawkgirl. Then J'onn floated up from the ground and became tangible again, facing down the man of steel.

"How about the three of us?" He asked with some confidence in his tone.

An engine roared in the distance, slowly growing closer, and then the batplane soared into visibility! The super-fast black jet flew directly into Superman, knocking the wind out of him and sending him spiraling. The plane fired a barrage of missiles, but Superman managed to avoid all but one of them. The blast caused him to tumble right into the line of machine gun fire from the plane. Superman flew through the bullet stream and punched the plane, immediately met with a powerful electric shock. He fell to the ground, but managed to pull the plane downward a ways. Then he ripped his arms forward and thrust the plane into a ledge. The jet burst into a ball of flame.

"Bruce!" Hawkgirl screamed. Superman stood up slowly, laughing, streams of smoke billowing off of his body from the shock. The charge had been enough to kill most metas with even invulnerability, Superman had barely withstood it. But still, he laughed. Because he had killed the dark knight.

Then a baterang sailed out and struck Superman in the side of the head, exploding and knocking him down. "Of course he isn't dead. He's never dead." Superman grumbled. Batman stepped out from the shadows and dropped the remote control to the batplane.

"Take him out." Batman ordered.

"Take him out… or take him down? There's a difference." Flash asked.

"Do whatever needs doing." Batman said grimly.

"Bruce, I'm impressed." Superman grinned. "Giving the green light to kill me? I'm honored."

"I don't kill people. But you no longer qualify as a person, in my eyes." Batman frowned.

"Well unfortunately Bruce, I can't stay and test your limits right now. After all, I do have other goals in mind." Superman's amused grin turned into a wicked smile.

"If you think I'll let you leave here-"

"It's not really your choice, Bruce. You don't know it yet, but I'm in control!" Superman shot a fast beam of heat vision into the nearby control tower, setting the tower ablaze. An alarm went off as the security went down, and all of the cells on Arkham Island unlocked. Lunatics began pouring out, ready to tear any living being apart.

"That ain't good." Vigilante sighed.

"This is a mess. I say we clean it up." Vixen ran into the crowd of insane criminals and began beating them down.

Flash started zooming through the crowd, only to be struck by a blast of ice. "What the hell?" He looked to see that Mr. Freeze was loose, and had retrieved his freeze gun from the armory.

"Oh come on! I just locked up Captain Cold, now I have to deal with this crap?" Flash complained, vibrating fast enough to melt the ice.

Hawkgirl started flying through the air, only to be struck by Man-Bat! She and the monstrous bat-creature began an aerial battle.

J'onn moved toward Superman, only to be struck into a wall by Clayface. The two shape shifters started fighting, bouncing back and forth off of each other with thundering blows.

"Perfect." Superman grinned, and began flying off into the night.

"No!" Batman chased after him, but suddenly the grass around him began to grow, and then wrapped around his legs. Moving quickly, Batman took out an electrical-baterang and threw it toward the flying man of steel. The baterang stuck into the back of Superman's heat, where the chip was located! There was a bright blue flash in Superman's eyes, and he practically felt the chip malfunction. Whatever it was going to do, he was almost afraid to find out.

Batman fell down and the grass began to envelope him. Poison Ivy. "Damnit!" Batman ripped himself free, but when he stood, Superman was already gone.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Volcana clenched her fists and then unclenched them, feeling her new body move. It looked just like her old body, but different at the same time. She stared at her reflection in the water. She looked… stronger. Her body seemed to glow, radiate with power. She noticed that her many scars were no longer there, either. She looked eternal. Like something that would never age, never wither.

She felt different too, she felt new. As if everything from her old life was no longer a part of her, like she could start over. But then the thought trailed into her mind… her old life. "Anthony." She thought about her son, and knew that there would be no starting over. She needed to find him.

"Welcome to Themyscira, Claire Selton." A woman said from behind.

"What-" Volcana jumped.

"I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you." The Amazon said.

"No, it's just… what did you call me?" Volcana asked.

"Claire. Claire Selton. Isn't that your name?" The woman looked confused.

"Yeah, it was. Or, I guess it still is. It's just… no ones called me by my real name in a long time." A dark shadow passed over Volcana's face.

"I trust Hera explained everything to you? About who we are, and what this place is?"

"Yeah. Hera told me everything. Well, she kind of did. She didn't actually say it, she just sort of burned the knowledge into my mind, you know? I just kind of knew when I arrived here."

"Ah yes, I have heard that it is something like that. Hera is taking in a lot of new Amazon's lately, after our numbers were so greatly depleted. She collects the souls of women wrongly killed, and gives them new life as Amazon's."

"Yeah."

"You don't sound excited, Claire."

"Well, it's nice and all but-" Her voice faltered.

"But what?"

"I just don't think I deserve a second chance." Volcana said grimly.

"Why not?"

"Long story short, I did a lot of bad stuff. I hurt a lot of people. I really wasn't a good person."

"Claire, there are no bad people. Only people who make bad decisions. But in my experience, there is always a reason behind every decision. If you did do such awful things, I'm sure you must have had a good reason."

"My reason. Yeah. I did. And it's why I need to go back."

"Back?"

"Back to America, Hobbs Bay to be specific. I have to find my son."

"You have a son?"

"Yeah. And I really need to see him, so where's the next boat out of here?"

"Claire… I'm sorry."

"What?"

"We generally do not leave Themyscira, you see. We do not interact with mans world."

"I don't think you understand. I NEED to see him!" Volcana created a ball of fire in her hand. She still had her fire, but now it was blue. A dark blue flame, hotter than any fire she had ever been able to create before. She held it out at the woman threateningly. "I suggest you get me out of here."

"Claire-"

"Hera told me that I'd see him again! You want to piss of Hera?"

"No, of course not. But Claire, the gods are immortal. As a result, their sense of time is not the same as yours. If she said you would see your son again, it's impossible to tell when she meant that it would happen."

"So there's really no way out of here? Sorry, I don't believe you."

"Well…" The woman shifted somewhat uncomfortably.

"What?"

"There is Diana."

"Diana?"

"You probably know her as Wonder Woman. She spends most of her time off of Themyscira, but she still visits here quite regularly. She may be able to bring you along with her next time she leaves."

"Wonder Woman huh? Sounds ok to me. So when's she coming?"

"Hard to say." The woman shrugged. "But if you want to pass the time, Claire, there's someone I think you should meet. It might make your adjustment to Themyscira a bit easier."

"Who?"

"Her name is Terri Henshaw. She is another new Amazon, the second newest, after you. She is just beginning to adjust, I'm sure she would be willing to help you out."

On the northern part of the island, inside Apollo's Temple, Terri Henshaw had another image. She saw her husband, now a metallic monster, flying toward a large mansion. "Hank! NO!" She pleaded. For a second, the monster stopped, as if he were somehow able to hear Terri. But then he shook his head and continued on.

Terri fell to her knees crying, afraid she was about to see Hank kill again. There was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" She called.

"Terri? It's Phillipus." The older Amazon said, stepping in. "There's someone I want you to meet."

Volcana, or Claire, stepped in uncomfortably. "Uh, hi." She shrugged.

"Who are you?" Terri asked.

"The names Vol- uh… Claire. Claire Selton. I'm new here."

"Oh. So am I."

"Yeah, I heard. So… I guess Phillipus wants us to like, be friends or something."

"I simply think you two could help each other. You are both new here, and quite confused, I'm sure. I think it may help you both to have someone in the same situation to talk to."

"I don't see the point. I'm not going to be here all that long." Claire said, determination in her voice. "The second this Diana chick shows up, I'm out."

Then a new shadow passed over them. Then Diana landed gracefully in front of the temple.

"Speak of the devil." Phillipus smiled. "Claire Selton, Terri Henshaw, meet Princess Diana."

"Yeah, I know who she is." Claire snapped. "She's locked me up before."

"Hello Phillipus." Diana smiled. Then she saw Claire. "Volcana?"

"I'm new." Claire shrugged.

"What- but how?"

"A psycho bone-breaking-bastard killed me, then I had this crazy vision where I was talking to Hera and Thanatos and my body burned up, and then I was here. And now I'm leaving. With you."

"I don't think so." Diana shook her head.

"I don't think you understand, I AM getting out of here. I've gotta see Anthony."

"Anthony?"

"My son. And I'm not explaining it again today. Long story short, I'm leaving and getting to my kid."

"You have to understand, I'm on a bit of a tight schedule. I actually came to see Terri." Diana glanced to the black haired woman kneeling on the floor.

"Me?" Terri asked.

"Yes. It's about your husband."

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

Lois cradled the newborn in her arms. Jonathon was fast asleep now, and couldn't be more beautiful. "Can I hold him now, Lois? He is my second cousin after all." Kara pleaded.

"I never did understand the big fuss over babies." Helena chimed in.

"What? They're so cute!" Kara argued.

"I guess." Helena shrugged. "Bunnies are cute too, but people don't go crazy over bunnies."

"I like bunnies." Kara said, and then took the baby in her arms and smiled.

Then there was a loud crash, and the entire cave rumbled. Then the wall caved in, and Cyborg stepped out! "Knock, knock!" He shouted.

"Oh… shit." Helena groaned, grabbing her crossbow.

"What's he doing here?" Kara asked frantically.

"Alfred!" Helena yelled. "Get Lois and the baby out of here, NOW!"

"Yes, yes, of course." Alfred rushed over irritably, and helping Lois carry Jonathon through a hidden exit toward the back of the cave.

"What are you doing here, Henshaw?" Kara demanded.

"Just getting information. And I might kill you along the way, Superbitch!"

She fired a beam of heat vision at him from her wheelchair. It had almost no effect on his indestructible body. He flashed over toward her, lifted her into the air, and threw her across the room. Then he began to interface with Batman's computer.

But before he could get much done, there was the sound of metal clanging behind him. He looked back to see a giant T-Rex coming at him! The dinosaur clasped metallic jaws over Cyborg and began whipping him around violently.

Helena had taken control of the remote-controlled T-Rex in Batman's trophy room. Cyborg forcefully ripped the robot's jaws open, and then tore the top jaw off. Then he smashed the creature to a pulp. He began moving toward Helena. She fired her crossbow above him. It cut the wires on a giant plane hanging off of the ceiling, and it came crashing down on top of Cyborg. It dug his way out, only to be greeted by a dose of fear gas stored in the batcave!

Cyborg began to scream, hallucinations of hideous figures tearing him to shreds flashed across his eyes. He stumbled back. "Get away from me!"

"Hope you're scared, asshole." Helena muttered. She aimed her crossbow at the human part of his face, getting ready to make the shot.

Cyborg stumbled into the computer, and involuntarily interfaced with it. Stored in the computer was the formula for the antidote to Fear Gas. Cyborg's nano-organic body immediately began to react, pulling chemicals from both the air and from his own body, even making modifications to the formula! Within seconds, Cyborg had been cured, and had adapted to the poison.

He came back to his senses just in time to see the crossbow bolt coming at him. He grabbed the bolt and snapped it in half. He started to move forward, when a Joker card spun around back and sliced his cheek. Blood ran down the human half of his face. "Oh, you are gonna die!" He screamed, running at Helena. Then Supergirl managed to float up off the ground and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to suffocate him.

"I don't need to breath, darling!" Cyborg shouted, ripping her off of his back and kicking her into the ceiling. He then struck Helena down and finished interfacing with the computer. Then he destroyed the computer and moved on, ready to kill both women. He attacked Kara first, punching her in the face.

With sheer willpower, she grabbed his arm and thrust him onto the telepad. "Helena! Now!"

Helena fired a crossbow bolt with a blunt edge toward the control pad, and hit the button hat made it activate. They teleported Cyborg off to some unknown location.

"I don't think he'll be back." Helena huffed. "He already got everything he needs to know."

"Yeah, but regardless, I say we get out of here. Now."

_Meanwhile, near the Tibetan village…_

Galatea was getting ready to fly back to America, still horrified. What had happened last night? Why was she covered in blood? What had happened to that village, and all those people? How did she end up there? It had to be that last needle, she decided. She could clearly remember what it said now. **PROJECT DOOMSDAY. **What did that mean? What had it done to her?

"I need answers." She said to herself, trembling. Deep down she knew that she had caused all that destruction, killed all those people, but she didn't want to believe it right now. She had almost convinced herself that it had been something else, that she had been framed or something. But part of her still knew that this was not the case. And what bothered her more was that less than a year ago, she wouldn't have cared. She would have slaughtered the village without a second though. She didn't want that to come back. She never wanted to think that way again. She was scared. She had never been so confused. But she knew one thing for sure. She could not confront Dick. Not now. Because she knew that this would happen again.

_A few hours later, back at Arkham Asylum…_

After a few hours, the group had finally cleaned up the island, gotten everyone back into their cells. They were short only three prisoners; Joker, Harley Quinn, and Superman.

"Normally I'd be worried about Joker." Batman muttered. "But with Superman loose again, we have much bigger problems."

"What did he say before he left? 'You don't know it yet, but I'm in control'?" Vixen asked.

"Yeah. That was it." Batman said darkly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vigilante asked.

"I don't know. I doubt he has any big plans right now, though. Right now he's out for revenge, on everyone who's ever crossed him."

"That's a pretty long list. I mean, it's Superman! The guy's made more enemies than me and you put together!" Flash pointed out.

"I say we put immediate surveillance on the biggest influences in his life before. Luthor, Kara, and Lois especially. And maybe his parents too." Hawkgirl said.

"Too obvious. Superman isn't stupid. He won't do anything too predictable." Batman disagreed.

"So what, then? We just wait until he makes his move?" Flash asked.

"Looks that way." Vixen sighed.

"Perhaps not." J'onn stated. "Remember, the Cyborg is still in pursuit of him. If they run into each other, which seems inevitable, then I doubt they would be hard to find."

"Yeah." Flash agreed. "A fight between those two would attract attention pretty fast."

"I say when it happens, we just let them kill each other. It's killing two birds with one stone, and we don't even have to throw it." Vigilante added.

"No, Cyborg defeated Doomsday in a matter of hours. I honestly don't think Superman would be able to beat him alone."

"So we have to decide which ones the bigger threat." Hawkgirl pondered. "Then we can decide whether or not we help Superman out and take down Cyborg, or let them go and let Cyborg kill Superman."

"Either way we're left with a problem of some sort." Batman sighed. "We need to gather everyone involved in this mess. Talk strategy, and figure something out. Plus…"

"Plus what?" Vixen raised an eyebrow.

"Right before Superman got away, I damaged that chip in his brain."

"Is that even still affecting him?" Flash asked.

"It seems like it. You saw how he reacted to Croc back there. It was like he was seeing Doomsday." Hawkgirl pointed out.

"If that chip is damaged, there's no telling what kind of affect it will have on him. No way of knowing just what he'll see. Or how he'll react to whatever he sees."

"So he's like a ticking time bomb." Vigilante groaned.

"Maybe not. Maybe his visions will have a positive affect somehow." Flash suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

"Maybe, but I doubt it." Batman grimaced. Then his communicator sounded. "Hello?"

"Bruce? It's Helena. Something crazy just happened."


	16. Knowledge is Power

Chapter Sixteen: Knowledge is Power

Almost everyone was gathered now. Batman, Flash, Hawkgirl, Vixen, Vigilante, J'onn, Tim Drake, Question, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Dick Grayson, Spoiler, Superboy, Kid Flash, Huntress, and Kara. Lois and her baby had gone somewhere safe, away from all the action. This group of heroes were now gathered in the batcave, and Batman was disappointed looking at the level of damage.

"Is this everybody?" Asked the Question.

"Not quite. Diana is still on Themyscira." Batman said.

"So… Superman's really loose?" Green Arrow asked grimly.

"Afraid so." Hawkgirl nodded.

"What ever happened to Jason and Roy?" Flash pointed out. "They sort of just disappeared."

"I doubt they ran off together, but they definitely both ran off. Jason probably went back to SHIELD, and as for Roy, I'm not sure." Dick said.

"What about Superman?" Tim redirected the conversation.

"Let me at him." Superboy yelled. "After all, I was made to replace him!"

"Let's focus on one matter at a time." Batman barked, and all eyes were suddenly on him. "Helena, Kara, tell me exactly what happened here earlier batcave."

"Bruce…" Huntress said, "It was crazy. I-"

"Whoa! Hold on!" Flash interrupted. "Something crazy? Happening in Gotham? Impossible!" He joked.

"Flash, shut up. Helena, continue." Batman ordered.

"Well… Cyborg showed up, interfaced with the computer in the cave, then went on trying to kill us." Helena shrugged.

"How did he know you're identity?" Tim asked Batman.

"Probably Cadmus. I wouldn't be surprised he stole information from them too, and they know everyone's identity."

"What I'm worried about is what he got from you, though." Dick said.

"Dick, don't talk about it here." Batman warned.

"Why? They need to know Bruce!" Dick demanded.

"Know what?" Spoiler asked.

"Just what Bruce Wayne had on his computer. You all know that Batman keeps extensive files on all of us, and everybody else who could ever pose even a minor threat. But what you don't know is just how extensive." Dick said, surveying the group. "Back when I was Robin, I broke into his files one night just to see what all he had. And it was disturbing. On that computer, there was… everything. Everything about our lives. All our family, our friends, medical records, school records, employment records, bank records, everything. Even things as meaningless as a listing of every car we've ever owned! All of that was stored inside that damn computer! And now…"

"And now Cyborg knows everything about everyone." Question finished the sentence.

"Bruce… is that all true?" Black Canary asked.

"I used to be a lot more paranoid than I am now. Before Ra's Al Ghul got his hands on so much of my research, I mean. Back then, I'd go so far as to say I was obsessed. I needed to be absolutely sure that I could defeat any of you, if the need ever arose." Batman said grimly.

"And you didn't think to maybe erase some of that valuable research of yours?" Green Arrow asked threateningly. "Do you even realize how bad this is? He knows everything that any villain could ever possibly want, Bruce! He knows our entire family for Christ's sake! Do you have any idea what he could do with that knowledge?"

"Of course I know!" Batman snapped. "Which is why I plan on doing everything in my power to make sure Cyborg never gets a chance to use that information. Ever."

"Let's put our feelings aside for now and talk strategy." Vixen put in. "What are we going to do?"

Halfway through the conversation, Dick stopped paying attention. He remember the smoldering ash left behind by the clones at the warehouse. He tried not to picture that happening to Galatea. And that gave him an idea. "Hey Kara?" He whispered.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Have you had any visions of Galatea lately?"

"Not recently, but I haven't slept much either."

"Ok. Well do you mind sending her a message for me next time she's asleep?"

"Shoot." She said.

"Alright, let's go somewhere more private." Dick grabbed the back of Kara's wheelchair, and much to her disdain, pushed her to the other end of the batcave. "So… what do I do?"

"Just talk." She said. "Galatea will see it."

"Ok then, here goes nothing." Dick closed his eyes, then opened them again. "Galatea… when you see this… I want you to know I'm coming, ok? I am so sorry I let those bastards take you, I didn't want to… I screwed up though. I failed you. And I promise I'll find you again, someday. Someday soon! And I'll make sure that they never, ever touch you again. Alright? I… I love you Galatea." He took a deep breath and backed up.

"You sure she'll see that?" He asked.

"I'm sure." Kara promised. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

"What?"

"A couple days ago, I nodded off for a bit, and I did get a message from Galatea! She was locked up somewhere, and I wasn't sleeping all that well, so it's kind of fuzzy… but I know that she said she's sorry. And she loves you too."

Dick was silent for a long time. "Thank you then. For telling me, I mean."

Then there was a moaning from below, on the cave floor. "What the hell is that?" Dick muttered.

"Oh God…" Kara groaned.

"What?"

"That's where Alfred swept Denise's body."

"Charming." Dick said sarcastically. There was more moaning. "Hey Bruce! I think you've got a zombie down here!"

_Meanwhile, at Bruce Wayne's Lake House a few miles outside Gotham…_

Lois looked around in amazement. The Lake House was still about a hundred times bigger than her apartment. It was made to look like a bachelor pad for a billionaire playboy. There were massive 3D TV's in every room, almost the size of movie theatre screens. A high tech stereo system was wired throughout the entire house, and there was a giant wall-fish tank in the main room, containing several exotic species of fish that Lois had never even heard of. She was pretty sure that she could see the outline of something much bigger further back in the tank, a dark shadow of something like a shark… she shook her head and moved on. The furniture was some of the most expensive on the planet, and there was a large pool and hot tub in more than one of the rooms.

She smiled; quite sure that Bruce had never actually used any of these things. It was all a cover up. A brilliant cover up, at that. No one would ever expect the owner of this place to have anything to do with Batman.

"I do hope you enjoy the accommodations, Ms. Lane." Alfred announced. Then he looked at the sleeping bundle in her arms. "If you like, I can place Jonathon in the crib."

"There's a crib?" Lois asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I took the liberty of acquiring one when Master Bruce officially began seeing Princess Diana. It never hurts to be prepared." The old butler smirked.

Lois understood the statement. Alfred was elated to finally see Bruce happy. And now he was hoping Bruce would take the next step. Marriage, a family, a normal, happy life. Diana had made it further than any other of Bruce's romances, except for maybe Selina at times, but that relationship had been so ridiculously unsteady. Maybe Diana would really be the one.

_Meanwhile, in the Himalayas…_

It was the most secluded area Galatea could find. She had searched and found  
a few clothes around. After she did she dressed and flew toward the Himalayas  
knowing that at least here she couldn't cause any harm. She had found a cave  
and was laying down when her connection to Kara revealed something. She sat  
up with a start and felt her eyes watering. Pulling her knees to her breasts  
she sat in the cave rocking back and forth.

He loves me. He loves me and I can't be with him now. She thought as she  
fought the urge to cry.

To be honest she would nothing more than to lose herself in his arms. She  
would want him to be her first, and if God was good perhaps her only. She  
wanted to scream and she felt herself doing so. CADMUS had already stolen so much  
from her. And now they had taken something that could have been so  
beautiful, and so pure and taken it far from her.

_Meanwhile, back in the batcave…_

"Hey Mr. Nice-Ass! I'm down here!" Denise called. Everyone was shocked that Denise La'sure was still alive. After bringing the battered, injured woman back up, they reluctantly placed her in the medical room.

"Most of your injuries aren't potentially fatal, though there is one severe fracture to your spine that could be if left untreated." Batman said.

"You mean I might be a cripple? Shit. I really liked sex, too."

"Join the club." Kara muttered quietly, though a few people heard and shot her awkward looks. "Uh… the cripple thing I mean. Not the part about sex." Kara stammered, turning a bright shade of red and doing her best to sound convincing.

Batman began to walk away from the operating table. "Hold on! You're not just going to leave here, right?" Denise asked.

"I'll take you to a local hospital. They probably won't do as good of a job, but then again, I don't really care."

"No! Come on, you have to help me." Denise pleading, wincing at the pain she was in.

"Give us one good reason." Huntress's eyes narrowed.

"Because… because I know a little something about your Cyborg enemy. I was curious, so I pulled up SHEILD's file on him. I learned his weakness."

"Weakness?" J'onn was noticeably interested.

"Yeah. Fix me up, and I'll tell you what it is." Denise grinned, still in great pain.

"Deal." Batman quickly hit a pressure point and put her to sleep. He and then J'onn then went to work with stitches.

"Hey, Helena… so how did you guys end up beating Cyborg when he came down here?" Flash asked.

"Well, we kind of didn't." Kara shifted in her wheelchair. "We just flung him onto the teleporter and beamed him off somewhere."

"Where?" Vigilante asked.

"We don't know. The consol was damaged."

"I'll check it out, I know how to extract coordinates." Question said, moving over to the telepad. A few minutes later, Question gasped.

"What is it Vic?" Helena asked.

"Cyborg… he's on Themyscira."

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

"So are you ready?" Diana asked. Terri sat on top of a rock on the cliff they were on, sobbing. Volcana was about thirty feet away, with her arms folded, leaning against a tree.

"Hank, he's not a bad guy. He really isn't." Terri pleaded. "He's just so angry, filled with rage… he can't control himself."

"That's why I'm here, Terri. I think that maybe we can help him. Together."

"I- I just don't think I can face him. Not like this."

"Terri, if we can't help him… we may have to kill him. You understand that, don't you?" Diana asked honestly. Terri made a gulping sound at the word 'kill.'

"Isn't there some other way? I mean, you don't just kill people! You can't just-"

"Terri, if there is any other possible alternative, we'll take it. And that's why we need you to be willing to help us."

Terri was silent for a long moment. Then a piercing pain split through her mind. "Ah!" She gasped, and nearly fainted. Diana caught her.

"Terri? What's wrong?"

"Hank… he's coming."

"What?" Then there was an explosion in the forest, and a maniacal laughter. A laugh that Diana recognized. "Terri, stay here. Volcana, back me up."

"Hold on? Didn't you just say I could help him?"

"Yeah but not while he's on a rampage. Hang back and-"

"No. No, Diana. If I'm going to face him, then I'm going to do it before he hurts anyone else."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Hey! Are we fighting or not?" Volcana called, holding a broadsword at her hip. "Because I'm in the mood!"

The three women rushed to the site of the explosion, and found the area shrouded in smoke. They couldn't see Cyborg. Diana slid down the side of the crater cautiously, looking for any sign of the psychopath.

"Clear?" Volcana asked.

"Looks that way." Diana nodded. "I don't know where he got off to, but-"

"Diana! Look out!" Terri suddenly shrieked. Diana looked up to see a red blur barreling down at her! Diana leapt to the side, but was blown forcefully into a tree by the impact, snapping the thick trunk in half!

"Too easy!" Cyborg shrieked. "Themyscira isn't all its cracked up to be! I've already killed twenty of you Amazon bitches!"

Volcana fired a torrent of blue flame at the killer, having no effect whatsoever. He raced toward her. Volcana heated up her sword to a point where one would get third degree burns just from touching the blade. She swung the weapon right into Cyborg's neck. It knocked him to the left a bit, but he didn't seem to feel any pain.

He kicked her in the stomach and then grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her face forcefully down into his knee! Her head flung up, blood pouring from her nose. Cyborg hurled her into a rock.

Diana stood and lassoed him from behind. She then pulled the Cyborg into a powerful punch to the face. He fell the ground, but recuperated quickly, and spun in a super-fast circle, winding the lasso and whipping Diana violently in a circle over the ground. Once she was close, he stomped her head into the ground, and released a blaze of heat vision onto her, burning Diana into the dirt!

She shrieked as the lasers burned into her. She attempted to block with her bracelets, but the sheer heat radiating was going to kill her.

"Hank! Stop!" Terri screamed. For a moment, Cyborg froze. Then he turned around slowly, looking his wife in the eyes.

"T- Terri…" He stammered.

"Yes. It's me Hank." She said, hot tears streaming down her face.

"No, no you- you're dead! I saw you die! Superman killed you! He killed you and then he- he blew my rocket up. No, it can't be you!"

"I was made into an Amazon, Hank. Hera took me and-"

"Liar!"

"Hank, no I-"

"Shut up! Lies! All lies! You're just trying to get inside my head, all of you are! Messing with mind! Trying to trick me, but I'm too smart for that!" He backed up frantically, his eyes wild.

"Hank please stop! I want to help you, I-"

"I don't need help! There's nothing wrong with me! Everyone else is wrong! You can't get in my head… I won't let you! I'll kill you all!"

"Hank…"

"I'm not Hank! Hank Henshaw died! And so did you!" Cyborg shot a powerful wave of freeze-breath at her. Volcana stepped in front quickly and created a wall of flame, keeping her and Terri safe.

"I- I don't know how to get through to him." Terri said sadly.

"Try telling him something only you would know, maybe that'll work." Volcana suggested.

"Ok, I'll try." Terri sighed, stepping in front. "Hank… you're middle name is Bennington, but you NEVER tell anyone that because you hate that name, because for someone it makes you think of Big Ben, and that makes you feel fat."

Cyborg stopped in his tracks for a moment, but then shook his head and kept going.

"You wanna try something else? Something a little more intimate, maybe?" Volcana pushed.

"Good call." Terri agreed. But before she could speak again, Cyborg stopped cold.

"Well, well, well… I'm connected to Batman's security system now… and it looks like the sect at Arkham was just compromised! Superman is out, and soon he's dead!" Cyborg yelled happily, and then flew off.

"Diana… let's go." Terri said. "I need to try again."

_Meanwhile, in Metropolis…_

Clark landed on a building as his vision began to blur. He tried to keep his  
mind steady, focused, but it wasn't working. He watched as the building  
changed. He saw images of a life before he turned. He fought them back not  
wanting to dwell on who he once was, but they wouldn't stop. The images began  
to come more into focus. He saw Lois the first night they slept together. He  
could hear Lana's disappointed sigh as she realized that Clark was always  
going to be her best friend and nothing more.

He could see Bruce saving his life from a warhead sent by CADMUS. All of it

played back through his mind, and finally he saw himself. The difference was  
that it wasn't him as Superman. No, this was him as Clark Kent. The man  
stood looking stoic, angry, and disappointed.

"You! You don't exist anymore!" Superman snapped.

"This has to end." Clark Kent replied. "Now. Even if I have to end it."


	17. A Poison Called Hatred

Chapter Seventeen: A Poison Called Hatred

Superman and Clark Kent faced each other down atop the building. "You don't exist anymore." Superman said strongly. "You don't exist because I don't need you anymore! You're weak, Kent! You've always been weak!"

"Is that why you're so scared?" Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Scared? Of a spineless coward in a business suit?" Superman chuckled. "You're the most pathetic thing to ever walk the Earth! Those jocks who tortured you in high school, you could have torn them apart! You could have had Lana AND Lois! You could have stomped out every single loser who ever crossed your path on this stupid ball-of-dirt planet! But what did you do? You stood by and became their lapdog! Just proving how pitiful and weak you are."

"No, I showed how much better of a man I am." Clark stepped forward. "You… you're nothing but a rabid dog now. And I'm going to put you down before you hurt anyone else."

"Oh really? That's nice, except that this is a damn illusion, you idiot!"

Clark swung a punch and caught Superman in the jaw. Superman fell back, pain surging through his skull. "What the hell… that's impossible! This isn't even real!"

"I'm real to you, and this is your mind." Clark grinned for a moment. "And you, deep down, you still believe I'm there. You know that somewhere, I still exist." Clark punched Superman again. "That little shred of guilt you felt when you attacked Diana? That was me. That slight hesitation before you tried to kill Lois, that was me. And you've ignored me for too long."

"Shut up! You already died once, Kent! Now I'll kill you again!" Superman kicked Clark in the stomach and sent him tumbling back. Clark stood quickly and grimaced.

"I won't let you do this anymore! You won't hurt my friends, my family, ever again!" Clark called.

_Meanwhile, over the Pacific Ocean…_

Diana flew toward the U.S. in the two-seater invisible plane, with Terri sitting behind her. Volcana was following close behind them, her body encased in a shroud of blue flame. She was controlling the rising heat and focusing it around her body, allowing her to fly. "I could never do this before!" Volcana yelled, though neither Diana or Terri were really paying attention.

"I'm sorry, Terri." Diana said grimly.

"No, I'm sorry." Terri replied, sadness thick in her tone. "I'm so sorry for everything he's done. You have to believe me, Diana. That monster, it wasn't Hank. Not the Hank I knew."

"I know the feeling." Diana's mind wandered to Superman. To Kal-El. To Clark Kent. The same man who had saved her life so many times, and vise-versa. The same man she had trusted to watch her back in countless battles. The same man who she had considered a friend. Kind of like a brother, even. She remembered his warm smile, his friendly happy-go-lucky nature, his ridiculously innocent attitude. How could all that just be gone?

She thought about him now. Cold, uncaring, violent, ruthless, sadistic, remorseless, sick and twisted. It didn't seem possible that he had changed so drastically, but she had seen the evidence first hand. Hell, she had _been _the evidence. She shuddered at the thought of everything he had done to her. The beatings, the violation, the psychological torment, the thought made her sick to her stomach. She still had nightmares about it, except for when she slept with Bruce. With Bruce, the nightmares went away. Bruce made things ok again, or at least, as ok as they ever could be, after what had happened.

She knew exactly how Terri felt. Because she felt the same way.

"Yo! Earth to princess!" Volcana screamed, snapping Diana out of her trance. Diana hadn't even realized that the mistress of fire had been talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry Claire. What were you saying?"

"I said I'll help you, but I'm going to do it when I'm good and ready. I am going to see my kid first."

"Agreed." Diana nodded.

"Hey, Diana?" Terri asked from the backseat. "What's that down in the water?"

Diana looked down below them, and saw a tassel of blonde hair. "It… I think it's a girl."

_Meanwhile, directly below the invisible plane…_

Galatea woke up, and immediately gasped for air, breaking the surface of the water. "WHAT THE HELL?" She screamed, trying to regain her composure enough to swim. "Where am I?" She had the familiar sensation of waking up and not knowing where the hell she was. That had been happening a lot lately. Galatea felt weak. She began to float back down into the water, when a hand reached down after her.

Not even knowing who it was, Galatea reached up and took the hand, and was quickly pulled up into the open air.

"Galatea?" A familiar voice asked. Once Galatea's senses were realigned, she realized that it was Wonder Woman!

"You- I- Where…?" Galatea stuttered, trying to get out a million questions at once.

"Slow down. How did you get here?" Diana asked.

"I- I don't know."

Diana looked like she was going to question more, but then Volcana interrupted. "Hey! 'Tea!"

"Who are you?" Galatea raised an eyebrow, looking at the burning blue figure before her.

"Oh, just a sec." Volcana focused and extinguished the flame around her head and face.

"Claire!" Galatea gasped.

"I'd hug you, but… I'm on fire." Volcana shrugged.

"Yeah, got it." The blonde smiled.

"So you really don't know how you wound up here?" Diana asked.

Galatea paled. In truth, she did have a pretty good idea. She had snapped again. Which probably meant that she had killed again. "N- no." She managed.

"She looks a little sick. Think you can fly, 'Tea?" Volcana asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I've been feeling pretty strong lately."

Diana could tell that she wasn't hearing the whole story, but right now she didn't have time to focus on it. There were more important matters to attend to. "No, you really don't look good Galatea. Did Cadmus ever teach you how to fly a plane?"

"Of course."

"Ok then. You can fly my plane for a while, I'll follow along the side with Claire."

Galatea looked around oddly. "I don't see a plane?"

"You will when you're inside it." Diana said as if it were no big deal. When they got Galatea up inside the plane, the communication consol was ringing. It was Batman.

"Patch the call through to my communicator, Galatea." Diana instructed, and Galatea did so. She could vaguely hear Batman on the other end, making sure everything was alright.

From the backseat, Terri explained the situation to Galatea, but she wasn't really listening. Gathering up her courage before it was too late, Galatea used her x-ray vision and looked down into the water where she had woken up. She was horrified by what she saw.

At the bottom of the ocean, a large cruise liner lay in ruins. And there were bodies. Lot's of bodies. The water was murky with blood. Galatea knew that overnight, she had killed them all.

_Meanwhile, at SHIELD Headquarters…_

Jason walked tiredly into the base.

'Where have you been?" Plastique asked.

"Disney Land, throwing rocks at kids wearing Mickey Mouse ears because it symbolizes animal cruelty." Jason said in rude sarcastic manner.

"Jackass." Plastique muttered.

He moved over to Guardian, who was monitoring a computer screen. "Anything interesting happen while I was away?" Jason asked.

"Breaker killed Claire Selton. Or Volcana, if that's what you want to call her. I locked him up. We needed her for questioning."

"I said anything 'interesting.' I don't give a shit about Volcana OR Breaker."

"Do you have to be so unpleasant all the time?"

"I try very hard." He looked onto the monitor and saw a blip representing Denise's heart monitor. "Denise is alive?"

"Yes, but her tracking beacon must have been disabled. I can't seem to locate her."

"If she's alive, then I know where she is." Jason moved toward the armory.

"Wait. Our benefactor told us that if someone is lost in battle, they're gone. We aren't supposed to go after her."

"I _really _don't care what our benefactor says. I'm not a puppet." Jason said, sliding on the Red Hood helmet. "Besides, she knows computer systems better than anyone else here, AND she has dirt on just about everyone who matters. We need her."

"Plus you want your bed buddy back." Plastique grinned.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Oh come on Jason. I have a room right next to her, I heard you two making some… interesting noises."

"Jealous?" Jason grinned, loading up his jacket with guns.

"Not in the slightest, actually."

"I'm going to get Denise. And by the way Plastique…"

"Yeah?"

"I haven't gotten a whole lot of sleep lately, and I'm in a really bad mood. So I suggest you quit with the attitude, or I'll put a bullet between your pretty little eyes."

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

"There, you'll live. Information, now." Batman barked.

"Alright, alright." Denise crossed her arms behind her head. "No use in playing games right now, anyway."

"So… Cyborg's weakness?"

"Calm down pointy-ears I'm getting to that! So this Henshaw guy, he merged with a Superman drone. That much you know already, right?"

"Right. Move on."

"So the Superman Drones were made with a Kryptonian organic-metal compound, or at least, a reproduction of it. Luthor was only able to get his hands on a small amount of the compound, so he hired a scientist to reproduce a metal with similar properties. A scientist who specializes in this type of thing. I'm pretty sure his name was Magnus. Doc Magnus."

"Creator of the Metal Men." Question nodded. "He'd be the man for the job."

"Yeah, him. So anyway, Magnus replicated the metal _almost _perfectly. But there was one particular imperfection."

"What?" Batman demanded.

"A power supply. To operate properly, the metal needed energy, just like any other organic life form. On Krypton, they used a power source that doesn't exist here on Earth. So Doc Magnus had to improvise. He made it solar powered."

"Solar powered?" Batman's eyes widened.

"Yeah. This Cyborg guy, he's soaking up solar energy like a sponge. Like, constantly. The metal needs a LOT of it to sustain itself, so it's taking in more energy than any solar panel on the planet 24/7. He's built up a pretty big reserve now, but if you were to cut him off from the sunlight, my guess would be that he'd be out of energy in around three days."

"That doesn't help us at all." Bruce snapped.

"Oh doesn't it?" Denise sat up. "Are you forgetting at that eclipse coming up? The one that's supposed to last… three days."

"It would be a good plan, except that the eclipse isn't for another two weeks." Question shook his head. "We don't have that much time."

"Oh really? Again, you people are so forgetful." Denise smirked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dick asked.

"Hey Mr. Nice-Ass," She looked at Batman, "Remember when you fought Clock King? He had a lot of gadgets, didn't he? And if I'm not mistaken, one of those gadgets could fast-forward a single target through time. So if you had that, it wouldn't be hard to cut him off from the sun, and then zap him right through the eclipse." Denise finished.

"Who came up with that plan?" Batman asked.

"Jason did. He's a lot smarter than people take him for, you know. Not book-smart maybe, but he's a brilliant strategist. He's good and finding weaknesses in people, and even better at exploiting them." A sly look crossed her face. "And that's only one of his many talents that I've gotten to see. He had a nice ass too."

"Shut up." Batman sedated her.

"What are you going to do with her?" J'onn asked.

"Arkham. For now, it's the safest place to put her."

"Arkham? Safe? Uh, Bruce… how many times has Joker broken out of Arkham?" Green Arrow chided. "But that doesn't matter to you as much as it does to us, does it? Because really, what do you have that criminals like him can take away from you?"

"Olli…" Black Canary said soothingly, trying to diffuse the situation before it got ugly. Green Arrow ignored her.

"What are you trying to say?" Batman stepped closer. Green Arrow stepped in closer too, to where they were almost nose-to-nose.

"It's the same reason you don't care about that information Cyborg got his hands on. It's the same reason you even _had _that information. It's because you just don't get it. You don't get that we're scared for our families. You don't understand why it's so horrible that Cyborg knows everyone we love!"

"Olli, stop it." Black Canary pleaded. But the archer just kept on going.

"It's because you don't have a family to lose." He said coldly. knows everyone we love!"

"Olli, stop it." Black Canary pleaded. But the archer just kept on going.

"It's because you don't have a family to lose." He said coldly. There was silence. Batman bawled up his fist and prepared to punch Arrow, but then stopped and backed away.

"I'm sorry I put you're loved ones in danger. I made a mistake, and I will do everything in my power to correct it." Batman then turned and walked off into solitude.

"Just for the record Oliver, you don't _ever _bring up his family. Especially not like that." Dick whispered.

"Yeah. He's probably going to kill you in your sleep now." Tim agreed.

"I don't care. He needs to realize that some of us here are actually human!" Green Arrow barked, and then headed up the stairs.

"Where are you going, Olli?" Canary asked.

"I'm just getting some air. I'll be back later."

Once the door had slammed behind him, Hawkgirl sighed. "Ok, now that the soap opera is over, can we please talk strategy?"

_A few hours later, at Hobbs Bay…_

The invisible plane touched down near Hobbs Bay, but Galatea left the engine running.

"I'll catch up with you guys as soon as I can." Volcana said, shedding the flame from her body.

"Don't rush, Claire. You're here to see your son, and I really think you've earned it." Diana replied.

"Thank you."

Diana began walking back toward the plane. A voice cut through the air. "Mom!" A child, around 10 years old, came into view and ran toward Volcana.

"Anthony!" Volcana caught her son in a tight embrace. Tears of joy were leaking out of her eyes, and Diana wondered just how long it had been since she had seen Anthony. He looked emaciated, hopelessly thin, and Diana realized that he had probably been living off of stolen scraps. Other than he was a pretty cute kid. He had puffy red hair, deep brown eyes, and his face was dotted with freckles. He had the happiest, most innocent smile Diana had ever seen.

Anthony pulled away, and then spotted Wonder Woman. He immediately frowned, and a sad look crossed over his face. "Are you here to take my mom back to jail?" He asked sadly.

"No." Diana smiled warmly. "No I'm not."

Anthony's face lit up again. "Then why-"

"Mommy's helping her this time, Anthony." Volcana said, genuine happiness in her usually cynical voice.

"Wait? So you're like, one of the good guys now?" He asked hopefully.

Volcana began to stutter, when Diana placed her hand on her shoulder. "Yes Anthony, she is."

"That is so cool!" Anthony threw his arms up in the air. "So you're not going to get arrested anymore, right mom?"

There was a long, awkward silence. Then finally, Volcana broke it. "No Anthony, never again." She hugged him again.

As Diana was walking away, she saw Volcana mouth the words _"thank you."_

"How'd it go?" Terri asked as they began to take off again.

"Great." Diana smiled. "And I think I may have thought of a way to solve our Superman problem."

_Meanwhile, in the skies of Metropolis…_

Cyborg flew toward the location that Batman's computer had triangulated. There was a 90% chance that Cyborg would find Superman there. But in all honesty, that was not the thing on his mind at the time.

"Was it Terri…? No, no, it couldn't have been Terri. Terri is dead." He thought out loud.

But everything was so perfect… her appearance, her voice, her mannerisms, they couldn't possibly have faked all that, could they? "Ah! Of course they could!" Cyborg shook the thought from his head. 

Still a nagging thought began to poke at him. In Wonder Woman's files was the section of myths and legends about Amazons. They had been created by women wrongly killed in life. He didn't want to believe it was Terri. It couldn't be Terri, because if it was  
then he could never go back to her. He could never again hold her or be with  
her because he had changed inside. The man he was had been corrupted and  
replaced by something darker. Inside he was a creature seeking vengeance, and  
while he knew he could live with it he didn't want her to.

"If you are Terri, if you are my wife then I'm sorry." He thought.

It was funny. Terri almost had a way of being able to finish his sentences,  
and she could reach for a tool he was going to ask for, but didn't get to.  
She didn't believe that she was a sanative, but it seemed likely that somehow  
their souls where linked. If that was so then she had witnessed everything he  
had done. The thought almost made him sick, but he forced it back knowing he  
needed to finish this. Once he was through with Superman he would leave.  
There would be nothing left for him on Earth.

He approached the tower, and there he finally saw his target. He finally saw Superman. "What the hell is he doing?" Cyborg muttered through his excitement.

Superman was standing on top of the building, punching at the _air_. Every now and then he would react as if he himself had been punched. It was like he was fighting something invisible, but Cyborg knew that was impossible. To fight against J'onn, his sensors had adapted to pick up traces of invisible beings. It was like Superman was hallucinating or something.

Cyborg decided to ignore it, and gave in to the sheer thrill. Finally! He found Superman, and now he would finally have his vengeance!

He crash landed atop the building, standing directly in front of the man of steel, hatred in his eyes. "I finally found you!"

But Superman didn't react at all. It was as if he didn't even see him! "Hey! Bitch! Don't you dare ignore me!" Cyborg fired a blast of heat vision that struck Superman in the face. Superman toppled over, and seemed to slowly come out of his stupor.

The vision was gone. Finally. "About time." Superman muttered. He heard a maniacal laughter, followed by a screeched "DIE SUPERMAN!"

Superman looked up. "What the-" He barely dodged the red blur coming at him. "You! I remember you!" Superman chuckled sadistically. "Hank Henshaw! Didn't I already kill you once before?"

"Yeah, you did." Cyborg cracked his metallic knuckles. "And now I'm here to return the favor." 


	18. Power and Remorse

Chapter Eighteen: Power and Remorse

Volcana looked at the old apartment. To be honest it was one of the few places she had felt some sense of peace at in her previous life. The building had long since been closed, and she knew that the city wouldn't be in a big hurry to sell it, or set it up for urban beautification. Instead it was left to rot, and that made it perfect, or at least perfect at the time. She looked at the two bags of groceries on the counter. A short stop at Bibbo's Ace O' Clubs ensured her that the old man remembered her. He caught her into a bear  
hug and began to rant on the things that had happened to his favor'te. She knew he was talking about Superman and knew that it had hurt Bibbo really bad to know that the hero he admired had fallen so hard. The old club owner walked into the back and came out with two bags of groceries.

"Take'em, I've tried to watch out for Anthony, but he's a fast 'un." Bibbo  
said before she thanked him and kissed his cheek.

She knew that she needed to hurry or at least try to get to where Diana was in time to be of some help. She began making a sandwich for Anthony, all the while considering whether or not she really wanted to go into the fight. After all, she was finally with her son again. She began to convince herself that she wasn't even going to go and help.

"Mom?" Anthony's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You said you were helping Wonder Woman? What did you help her do?"

"Hmm. Well, her usual job, I guess. There's a bad guy doing bad things, I was helping her fight him."

"And… she's going to fight him again now?"

Volcana pursed her lips. "Yes, and Superman. You heard about how he turned bad, right?"

"Yeah, I heard. I never really thought he was good." Anthony shrugged.

"Why not, honey?"

"Because he kept taking you away."

Volcana remembered all the times Superman had taken her in. She knew it had been hurting Anthony, but she hadn't realized how much.

"Hey mom?"

"Yeah?"

"If Wonder Woman's going back to fight the bad guys some more, are you going to go with her?"

"I don't think so, sweetie."

"Oh. Why not?"

"Because I'm finally here with you again." She smiled and gave him the sandwich. But he looked down with a slightly disappointed look on his face.

"So… you aren't going, because of me?"

"Anthony, it's because I want to stay with you. Do- do you want me to go and fight?"

"Well, if it could stop other people from getting hurt, then yeah. I mean, I don't want people to get hurt because of me. I've been taking care of myself for a long time mom, I think I can do it for a couple more hours, while you go and save people."

"Anthony, are you sure?"

"As long as you promise to come back."

"I promise." Volcana smiled. "Then, I guess I should get going. Stay here, and wait for me to come back."

"I always do." Anthony grinned.

"After this, there'll be no more waiting for me anymore. I promise." Volcana hugged him. "I love you Anthony."

"Love you too mom."

She got up, waved goodbye, and then took off in the direction Diana had been going.

_Meanwhile, in the Batcave…_

Jason found one of the secret entrances out back behind the manor. He knew that this entrance was almost never used, and would have the least security. After rummaging around for a while, he found a hidden USB port. He took out his Code Breaker device and hooked it up, then waited a few minutes as it shut down any alarm system there may have been.

Jason then descended down into the batcave. He ran over towards the medical area, where he knew he would find Denise. He shook her awake.

"Jason?"

"In the flesh. Lets get outta' here before the bat comes back."

"I can't walk." Denise shook her head.

Jason groaned disappointedly. "Alright, whatever." He lifted her up and began to head for the exit.

Denise grinned. _"I should be hating this."_ She thought. And she was bothered, because she wasn't. She realized that she was beginning to admire Jason. He was her equal. And that was why he had to go. Because he was just another damn man.

_Meanwhile, at Stryker's Island in the Medical Unit…_

Roy looked at Lex as the self made billion dollar man closed his eyes  
angrily.

"you didn't kill him?" Lex asked.

"Jason turned on me. Then a lot of other crap happened. I'm sorry Mr.  
Luthor." Roy said.

"I'm disappointed Roy. I should have one of our friends take care of you.  
After all I just met and hired a few new employees." Lex said.

Roy looked to see the Lord versions of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Johnny Quick  
step out. Lord Wonder Woman had a cute, but chubby little infant in her  
arms.

"I will instead have them go with you to dispose of him correctly. But you will not be given a third chance, Roy." Lex said.

"Our agreement?" Lord Batman asked.

"Complete access to my underground lab in Hobbs bay. And a steady flow of  
Cash to fund your research, upon Superman's death." Lex said.

"Consider him dealt with." Johnny Quick said with a smile.

_Meanwhile, atop the building in Metropolis…_

Within the first several minutes of the fight, Superman had realized two things. One, Henshaw wasn't going to be a push over, and the second was that he may have made a mistake in attempting to kill the man.

Cyborg slammed Superman into the floor and stomped on his chest. "You killed her! YOU KILLED HER!" He stomped down harder, cutting off Superman's breathing. "She was pregnant, you know! You killed her and my baby! After this, I think I'll hunt down your girl, and kill her and your baby!"

"Baby?" Superman choked. "What the hell are you talking about?" He tried to pry Cyborg's foot off of him, but could not. Then Cyborg raised his leg a little, and stomped down with all his might, smashing Superman down through the roof! Superman with such force that he began crashing through every single floor of the building, falling faster and faster. By the time he hit the basement, he struck with so much force that the shockwave toppled the entire building! The structure collapsed into the street causing immeasurable damage.

Slowly, Superman crawled out of the rubble. There was a sudden blur in front of him, and then a red metallic fist struck him in the face. Superman flew back into a speeding car, flipping the vehicle onto its back and rolling several feet. Cyborg shot a beam of heat vision into the gas tank of the car, and the explosion blasted Superman down into a crater. When the smoke cleared, he quickly held up his arms to block Cyborg's next strike, but the shock from the hit still caused him to lose balance.

Superman quickly swung back and caught Cyborg in the jaw, snapping his head around on an unnatural angle. But Cyborg recuperated almost instantly and kicked Superman into the air. Superman landed on a highway and grabbed a semi truck, and threw it down like a fastball at the approaching Cyborg. Cyborg quickly shrugged off the hit and kneed Superman in the midriff. Superman rolled back and began whipping more cars at him. Cyborg smacked them all out of the air.

In a blur, Superman roundhouse kicked Cyborg in the neck and sent him spiraling. Superman then flew around as fast as he could manage, blasting Cyborg with powerful waves of heat vision from every angle. Then Superman flew down and kicked Cyborg with the force of a meteor, blasting him into a moving car, his body smoldering. But Cyborg was already beginning to get back up.

"Damn it! What is he, immune to pain?" Superman muttered. But a strange thought was still nagging at him… what was it that Cyborg said? Something about a child? _"No, it couldn't be." _Superman shook his head.

Cyborg released a wave of freeze-breath, turning Superman into a Popsicle. Superman's frozen body began to fall, and Cyborg zoomed in with super-fast flight. He mid-air tackled Superman, and the two flew into a nearby oil tanker truck. The explosion was deafening, and blinding.

By the time Cyborg and Superman recuperated, they were surrounded by fire on the ground underneath the highway, which now had a giant smoldering hole in it. Superman stood, bleeding from his forehead, his shoulder dislocated, and his costume in tatters. And Cyborg didn't even have a scratch on him.

The metallic monster laughed hysterically. "Pathetic! The Earth's greatest champion, nothing but a bleeding loser at my feet!"

Superman stared at Cyborg, breathing heavily. Then he began to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Cyborg demanded.

"This whole situation, I guess." Superman took a step back. "I created you, if you really think about it, and I did it with the intention of killing you. Now, you're going to kill me." Superman laughed loudly, and spread his arms. "Karma's a bitch!"

"Hmm." Cyborg grinned in an amused way. "Does that mean you're surrendering?"

"It means I'm issuing a challenge. You want vengeance right? Take it then! Give me what I deserve!" Superman yelled.

Cyborg ran in carelessly, leaving himself completely exposed, just as Superman had anticipated. Superman shot a beam of heat vision directly toward Cyborg's one human eye.

But Cyborg caught on and ducked beneath the beam, taking off in super speed. He grabbed Superman's face and lifted him in the air, the heat vision still being released. The heat collected and basically exploded, burning Superman's face. Cyborg then punched Superman in the gut and let go of his face.

Superman flew back and began smashing through the supports holding up the highway. The further he sailed, sections of the highway began to fall to the ground, destroying cars the whole way. Superman felt ribs crack as he smashed through more and more supports. Or maybe it was the punch that cracked them, he wasn't sure.

Then Superman felt a horrible, piercing sensation. He screamed, and saw blood spray from his torso. He looked down and saw a long red blade, covered in blood, protruding from his chest. Superman managed to glance back, and saw Cyborg standing behind him, his arm molded into a blade.

Superman had been impaled. He began to hack up gobs of blood. Cyborg burst out in a manic laughter. "Now, off to kill Lois Lane! And your baby!"

_"Baby…" _Superman thought again. _"A baby… I have a baby? I HAVE A BABY!" _Pulling himself off of the blade, Superman fell to the ground, and watched the grass turn red, stained with his blood.

He slowly began to get up, realizing that somehow, Cyborg had actually missed any vital organs. There was still the danger of bleeding out though.

Cyborg raised the blade again, a wicked grin on his face. He prepared to bring it down and decapitate the man of steel, when an engine roared in the distance…

_Meanwhile, aboard a JLA Javelin nearing the battle…_

Finding the battle between Cyborg and Superman had not been hard. Batman simply had to follow the trail of destruction. The whole group was almost there now. Batman had collected Clock King's device to alter the time flow to a certain target. But there was a bit of a danger. Batman knew that if they missed or something, Cyborg could adapt to the device. They would have to take him down in one shot, and one shot only. Then they would only have Superman to deal with.

"Hey Bruce?" Hawkgirl called.

"What?"

"I see Superman and Cyborg down there. And a lot of blood, too. And not Cyborg's blood."

"That could be a good thing. That will make Superman easier to deal with once we get rid of Cyborg." Question said.

"About that, we only have one shot with this device. So… Queen, you're the best shot." Batman offered the small clock-like device to Green Arrow.

"Seriously? You would trust me to take our one shot?" Green Arrow raised an eyebrow.

"It's more likely that I would miss than it is that you would." Batman handed him the device.

"I won't." Green Arrow nodded with a smile.

"You sure you want to come, Helena?" Question asked. "You haven't completely healed yet, and-"

"Vic, shut up." Huntress cut him off. "There's no way in hell that I'm missing this."

Dick looked to Kara. "What about you? You really want to do this Kara?"

"Superman is still my cousin. And we're taking him out today, then I want to be there." Kara nodded with full certainty.

"Hey Bruce!" Tim called. "There's something else entering the airspace. According to the radar, it's right in front of us, but I don't see anything."

"That would be Diana." Bruce nodded.

The Javelin and the Invisible plane both landed around the same time, and everyone stepped out.

Galatea shied away when she saw Dick, but he quickly ran up and wrapped his arms around her. "Galatea… you're safe."

"Yeah. I suppose I am." Galatea said grimly.

"What's wrong?" Dick asked.

"It's… it's nothing." She sighed. She just couldn't tell Dick about what had been happening to her. Not now, anyway.

"Who's she?" Batman looked to Terri.

"She's Hank Henshaw's wife. And I think she can offer a better solution to this whole mess."

"Hey, hate to interrupt the reunion everybody, but there's kind of a murderous super-cyborg about a hundred feet away." Question exclaimed.

"Great… you again!" Cyborg surveyed the group. "Alright, I guess I'll take a moment to kill all of you!" He sprinted toward them, but was immediately struck by a blast of blue fire from the sky!

Volcana touched down near the group. "Hope I'm not too late." She said.

"No, right on time." Diana said.

"What were you saying about a different solution?" Batman whispered.

"Just try and subdue him for a moment, please." Diana whispered back. "If my plan fails, then we can do it your way."

Cyborg leapt into the crowd, zeroing in on Diana first. She held up her arms to block his attack, and the blunt force of the blow shattered her bracelets! She spun around and kicked him in the face, but he grabbed her leg and threw her through the window of a nearby shop. Batman came in around back and placed C4 onto Cyborg, setting it off quickly and blasting him into a hole. But Cyborg seemed unfazed by this and struck the dark knight with a blast of heat vision. Hawkgirl struck him with her mace a few times before he swatted her out of the air.

Superboy tackled him and they flew upward, smashing the top right off of a skyscraper. Cyborg managed to get the upper hand as they wrestled, and threw Superboy down through the concrete and into the sewer! J'onn came in while invisible, but Cyborg had already adapted and was able to pick him up anyway.

Cyborg quickly blasted J'onn out of the air before being caught in a cyclone created by Flash. Kid Flash created a second cyclone spinning the opposite direction, and also caught Cyborg. They were trying to rip him apart! Cyborg let out a gust of freeze breath that was picked up by the wind, and iced by the speedsters.

"So disappointing! Even together, you're still no match for me!" Cyborg laughed. Suddenly a blast of emerald green energy shot out, blasting Cyborg through a building. Cyborg turned around to see Green Lantern John Stewart floating above him.

"I'm back!" John exclaimed.

"John!" Hawkgirl gasped.

"It's about time." Vixen grinned.

"You should've stayed in the hospital, it's safer there!" Cyborg attacked.

John fired another blast, but this time Cyborg held out his hands and blocked it! Somehow, he was effectively holding back the energy! Then John noticed the yellow light radiating from Cyborg's palms.

"Damn." John groaned. "He's already adapted."

Then another wave of green lit up the sky and struck Cyborg in the stomach, blasting him several feet through the air. John looked to see that Kyle Rayner had arrived!

"Kyle?"

"I've been recovering in the watchtower. Now I'm done." Kyle grinned.

Cyborg floated back up and faced the two Green Lanterns down. "I remember you!" He pointed to Kyle.

"Yeah. You turned me in a human-freakin'-meteor!" Kyle recalled

"Obviously attacking one at a time is getting us nowhere, he can just adapt right away. We need to start using teamwork; I doubt he can counteract more than one attack at a time." Batman reasoned.

"I agree." Dick nodded. Then he looked to Galatea. "It seems odd that you aren't more eager to get into this fight, 'Tea."

"I'm not too crazy about fighting right now." Galatea nodded, remembering the bodies she had seen.

Volcana had been working on thawing out Flash and Kid Flash. "Ok." She said. "Let's hit him!"

Hawkgirl came around from behind and struck Cyborg in the back of the head with her mace, sending him spiraling into the ground.

Once he hit, Kyle and John created a series of green shackles around his body, hoping to keep him in one place. Cyborg began struggling to break free, and it was clear that within a few minutes, he would succeed.

Volcana unleashed a torrent of flame upon him before he got loose. Flash quickly began running in circles around the villain, circulating the fire and creating a blue fire tornado! He was quickly joined in his run by Kid Flash and Superboy, and with their combined speed, the fire tornado was quickly approaching super-nova heat, and Cyborg was enveloped inside!

_Meanwhile, about a hundred feet away behind the rubble from the highway…_

Superman glanced behind and saw a tornado of blue fire. He chuckled, knowing that it wouldn't be enough. He looked at the wound on his chest, gushing blood. He knew what he had to do. He picked up a mirror from one of the destroyed cars, and held it out in front of him.

Then he released a light beam of heat vision, which reflected off of the mirror and began burning into the wound on his chest. Using his own heat vision, Superman was cauterizing the wound! After several painful minutes, the bleeding stopped. Then he got up and began to leave, hoping to make it out of the area unnoticed.

"You are such a coward." A baritone voice said behind him. Superman looked back to see Clark Kent again. Clark sat atop the rubble and watched him disdainfully.

"Well sometimes, cowards are the ones who survive." Superman retorted, and then went on trying to ignore the hallucination. But as soon as he turned around, Clark was standing in front of him.

"You can't run away from your conscious, Kal." Clark shook his head.

"Shut up and leave me alone!" Superman delivered a punch, but Clark dodged and hit him in the eye.

"That wound is really slowing you down." Clark pointed out.

"How the hell are you doing that? You aren't even real!" Superman rubbed his blackening eye.

"It's psychosomatic, I guess you could say. Deep down you believe I'm real, and you're body is reacting as such." Clark explained.

"But you _don't _exist! Clark Kent is dead! He was a weak, spineless fool, so I got rid of him!"

"So if you do leave now, where exactly do you plan to go?" Clark asked, changing the subject.

"Hmph, simple. I'll let all those idiots back there kill each other-" Superman pointed back at the battle going on. "And then I'll exterminate the whole damned planet!"

"And then what?"

"Then… then I'll move on to the next planet. And I'll do it because it's fun!"

"And what about you're child?"

"It's _you're _child, Kent. And you're dead." Superman walked right through Clark and pressed forward. Clark appeared next to him and walked alongside him.

"So you feel no connection to _our _newborn son at all?"

"Of course not." Superman barked.

"I don't believe you. And actually, you don't either."

"And how the hell do you know what I believe?"

"You said it yourself Superman, I'm just in your head, part of your mind. And if I don't believe it, that must mean that somewhere, you don't either."

"I have got to get this damn chip out of my head." Superman muttered.

"That won't make me go away, Superman. It'll just make it harder for you to see me."

"Well sometimes you've gotta settle for second best!"

"Funny, I remember mom telling me that when you were a kid. Still a momma's boy, are you?"

"No. In fact, I'll kill her once I get around to it."

"Oh, I know you will. Because somehow you've deluded that into thinking that that will just make all emotional attachment go away. But in reality, it just makes me stronger."

"How?"

"Because it makes your guilt stronger."

"I don't have any guilt!"

"Uh-huh. Which explains why I'm stronger than you right now, right?"

"You are not."

"Then why don't you try hitting me again?"

"If I didn't have a gaping hole in my chest, I probably would!"

"Superman, every step you take away from you're friends back there, the stronger I get."

"They are _not _my friends."

"Oh? Then who is? Luthor?"

"Friends are useless. Power is all that matters."

"Then I guess I matter more than you do, because leaving them back there to die… it's making me more powerful."

"Shut up!" Superman spun around, but saw that Clark Kent had disappeared. Superman looked back again at the battle going on. Cyborg had escaped the fire tornado now, and was strangling Superboy in one hand, and Flash in the other, with Kid Flash underneath his foot. Other heroes were trying to make him let go, but their attacks mostly just glanced off of his armor.

"Huh… shit." Superman sighed. "Henshaw is stronger than I am, whether or like it or not. I can't defeat him alone. So if I want to get rid of him… looks like I have to play the hero, one last time." Superman began to fly toward the battle.

Lord Batman, Wonder Woman, and Johnny Quick stepped out of the shadows and watched Superman take off. Roy had headed in a different direction to scope out the fight ahead.

"Should we take him down?" Johnny Quick asked.

"Yeah, if we strike now I'm sure we could beat Superman." Lord Wonder Woman pointed out.

"Just wait. I want to see how all of this unfolds." Lord Batman said, eyeing the time-warping device in Green Arrow's possession. "Because this scenario could turn out better for us than we ever imagined."

_Meanwhile, at SHIELD Headquarters…_

"About time you got back." Guardian said as Jason walked in, carrying Denise.

"I could have taken a lot longer. Luckily Batman was out somewhere else, probably hunting down Superman." Jason explained.

"About that, we got another mission. On that I think you will find interesting." Guardian began to play a video on the giant computer screen in the lobby, showing the scene in Metropolis.

Cyborg decimating the group of heroes, and in back they saw Superman approaching.

"We have been ordered to subdue the situation there, and take out as many of them as possible. Superman and Cyborg are the main priorities though, we have to be sure to kill them." Guardian explained briefly, sounding a bit unsettled by the order for an assassination. Guardian never was all that keen on murder.

"That's suicide." Jason stated bluntly.

"Not quite." The benefactor said from behind, startling Jason. The masked benefactor walked up. "Remember that second dose of genetic modification I mentioned before? I think it is about time for that."

"What exactly will it do?" Guardian demanded.

"Let's just say it will put you on par with the equivalent of three Superman's." The man said vaguely. "Come with me, and we'll prepare you for the job. Oh, and also there will be a team of 1,000 Cadmus troops backing you up on the mission. You cannot fail."

"Alright then. Plastique, release Breaker. We need all the strength we can get out there." Guardian called.

"I don't suppose you will be excepting the genetic material, Mr. Todd?" The benefactor asked.

"Not a chance." Jason shook his head. "Oh, and Denise is going to be out of commission for a while."

Jason took her to her room and laid her down on her bed, but quickly handed her a laptop he had snuck in from the lobby. "Denise, I have a job for you here." He said.

"What would that be?" She asked.

"I need you to do a little research."

"That's my specialty. Research on what?"

"A drug. It's called shield. I want to know what it is, where it comes from, and how it's made."


	19. Lost Hope and Lost Minds

Chapter Nineteen: Lost Hope and Lost Minds 

"This is ridiculous! Even when we hurt him, he just recovers instantly and then comes back stronger!" Tim complained.

Sure, the heroes had put a dent or two in Cyborg, but he returned to perfect condition right away. He seemed unstoppable.

"Enough of this." Batman scowled. "Oliver, get ready to take the shot! I'll get him still for a moment! I want you to fire even if I'm still on him."

"Bruce! Wait! If we can just restrain him for a little while I really think I know how to get through to him!" Diana pleaded.

"We tried it you're way Diana, and it's not working. We can't let him hurt anyone else." Batman argued.

Then there was a thundering crash. Superman rammed into Cyborg with the force of a freight train and sent him tumbling along the pavement.

"You're still alive?" Cyborg screamed in rage.

"K- Kal!" Diana's eyes opened wide.

"Great, now we're dead for sure." Flash sighed.

"I figured you'd run away." Batman stated.

"And miss an opportunity to eliminate my biggest threat? I'm not an idiot, Bruce." Superman grinned. "I'm on your side for now. But the second Henshaw is finished, I'm going right back."

Cyborg fired a blast of heat vision toward the man of steel. Superman quickly dodged to the left, soared in with a left hook to the Cyborg's face. Cyborg spun backward, but kicked his legs up and struck Superman in the jaw, rocketing him up through the top of a nearby skyscraper.

Tim came around back and tried to strangle Cyborg. Cyborg pried Tim off of him with ease and began to bend him, beginning to break his back!

"Let him go!" Kara screamed, not wanting to see another hero crippled. Without thinking, she leapt out of her wheelchair and kicked Cyborg in the back, smashing him into a telephone pole and causing him to drop Tim. He spun and around and lifted Kara up into the air. He floated into the lower atmosphere with a cruel grin on his face.

"Hey Superman! I'll one-up you! I'll kill you, your girl, your baby, AND your cousin!" He then delivered a powerful uppercut to Kara's jaw. She flew upward so fast that there was a sonic boom, and in an instant, Kara was out of sight. Cyborg had literally punched her off of planet Earth.

Cyborg laughed hysterically, but as soon as he looked down Superman punched him in the stomach and then kicked him in the face, sending him spiraling down. As he fell, Cyborg was struck again by Superboy, who knocked him back toward Superman, who kicked him back down, treating Cyborg like a pinball!

Diana realized the distraction, and took the opportunity to duck into an alleyway, and put her big plan into action. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer that she had learned as a child, and when she opened them up, Thanatos, goddess of Death, was standing before her.

"Diana." Thanatos acknowledged.

"Lady Thanatos, I have an important question. The unborn child of Hank and Terri Henshaw… did you collect his or her soul?"

"Yes. The child was female."

"What happened to her?"

"She was quite a strange case, actually. I planned to take her to where all innocent souls go, but Hera had a different plan. And Hera is a greater power than I, of course. Which honestly I don't quite understand, because Hera is the goddess of marriage, and isn't the phrase for marriage, 'Till death do us part?' So since I am the goddess of death, I think I should I overrule Hera, since marriage ends at death. But when I brought that up to Zeus he-"

"Thanatos, with all do respect, can you please stay focused? The baby, what did Hera do with her soul?" Diana asked pleadingly.

"Oh, yes, the baby. Well Hera placed the child's soul inside of Terri Henshaw. She carries the baby even now, though in a bit of a different way… not really a mortal pregnancy, but-"

"Ok, thank you Thanatos. That's all I need."

"May I ask why this knowledge was so important?"

"Because now I think I understand what Lady Aphrodite said to me."

Thanatos grinned. "Very good, child. And remember, you're mortal's name is still on my list." Thanatos pointed to Batman. "But his life can still be saved. Do not lose hope." Thanatos then disappeared.

Diana ran into the open. The first thing she saw was Superboy lying on the ground, bleeding from a gash that ran from his chest down to his thigh. Tim and Stephanie were trying to stop the bleeding. She looked around at the carnage and saw Kid Flash also had a hole burned in his leg, likely from heat vision. He wouldn't be running for a while. Huntress was doubled over in pain; it looked like her already damaged ribs had been struck. Question was helping her get to safety. Black Canary had a broken arm, and Green Arrow had received a blow to the head that probably gave him a concussion. That would definitely throw off his aim. If Diana's plan worked, then that wouldn't matter. If it failed, than it meant they were doomed.

J'onn lay on the ground recovering from what appeared to be a fire-related injury. Kyle's ring had been damaged, and John was tending to Shayera, who was bleeding from a few different gashes on her upper body.

Vigilante had gotten a broken leg, and Mari was carrying him to safety, despite the fact that she too was bleeding pretty heavily.

The only people left in the fight were Batman, Volcana, Dick, Flash, and Superman. The five of them were managing to pound Cyborg pretty heavily, but he didn't seem to be slowing down at all.

Diana noticed that Galatea didn't seem to be present, but then she noticed the blonde watching the fight go down from several yards away. She seemed afraid to join in the battle for some reason. Galatea had never been afraid of fighting against powerful enemies before; it seemed strange that appeared so timid now. But Diana had no time to dwell on that.

"This has got to stop." She said aloud.

She moved over to J'onn. "Are you doing ok?" She asked quickly.

"I have been better." J'onn groaned. "Volcana attempted to blast him, but he dodged, and she hit me. Just about killed me."

"Do you think you're strong enough to do something for me?"

"That depends on what it is you want done."

"Using telepathy… do you think maybe you could calm Henshaw down a bit? Enough that I could talk to him?"

"If you can get the others to stop attacking them, then maybe I can."

"I'm on it." Diana ran toward the battle.

Just as she arrived, Cyborg was swatting away Batman and Dick. He then caught the Flash and threw him down the street. Volcana came around back, and Cyborg spun around, kicking her through a window. As he was turning back around, Superman was flying toward him, ready to deliver a crushing punch. Cyborg bawled up his fist and began running forward as well, ready to meet Superman with an equally powerful strike.

Diana sprinted as fast as she could, and leapt between the two of them. She fanned out her arms, and then closed her eyes, bracing for impact.

"What the hell is she doing?" Superman gasped, realizing that he and Cyborg were about to pulverize Diana from both sides. Instinctively, he sped up and flew around her. "Wait… what the hell am I doing?" He held his arms up in an X and blocked Cyborg's punch, pain from the impact wreathed through his body. He slid a few feet back, and stopped right in front of Diana, who opened her eyes slowly.

Superman could already tell he had internal bleeding after blocking that punch. _"Why did I just do that? Why didn't I let him kill her?" _He though, irritated with himself. _"I'm not a damn hero anymore! I don't do this kind of thing! Why did I jump in the way like that?"_

"Th- thank you." Diana stammered. For a moment, there was a flare in Superman's eyes, a look she recognized. For a moment, he looked like Clark again. He looked like her friend. Then the flare was gone, and he looked like the cruel, evil Superman she had come to know.

"What are you doing? Are you suicidal or something? There are easier ways to kill yourself!" He barked. Superman had wrapped his arms around Cyborg's and was struggling to hold him in place. They were on an awkward angle that made it impossible for Cyborg to hit him, so he just fought to escape his grasp.

"Hank, please stop for a moment." Diana begged.

"Stop? And let you all destroy me? I don't think so, Wonder Bitch!"

"Please. Superman well stop too, and well, you've subdued everyone else."

"I'll _what_? Speak for yourself Diana!" Superman snapped.

"Kal, you're insane, but you're not stupid. You know as well as I do that you can't defeat him through brute force!"

"Then what do you suggest, princess? Sitting down and talking to him?"

"If everyone will just stop for a second, there's something you need to hear!"

"Just try it, sweetheart! I'll tear you to shreds!" Cyborg shrieked.

"It's about Terri. And your baby."

"I already know everything them that I need to! Starting with Superman killed them!" Cyborg's rage boiled. "Then he blew me up and left me drifting in space for God knows how long! So forgive me for not being very open minded about it!"

"But they aren't dead!" Diana insisted. "In fact, Terri's here! And she's still carrying your baby!"

"Please! You've already tried feeding me this bullshit! I won't buy it!" Cyborg argued, but the anger in his voice was beginning to falter, and it was clear that J'onn was starting to calm him down a little.

"Do you want to see her?" Diana asked, trying to sound calm and professional.

"Again, you've already tried this!"

But Terri stepped out of the invisible plane anyway, and walked toward the group. "Hank, this has to stop." She begged.

"Imposter!" Cyborg growled. "You can't be-"

"January 22nd."

"What?"

"January 22nd. It's our anniversary."

"Anyone could have found that out! You-"

"Your mother died in a car accident when you were three, and you're father died just last year of his second heart attack. You barely even knew him though, he was in the army and was almost never home. You spent most of your time living with your grandparents, Sally and Red Henshaw. Red has lung cancer, probably because he was always smoking these expensive cigars imported from Cuba. You tried one once behind his back when you were seven, and you hated it so much that you got sick to your stomach and threw up on the neighbor boy."

"But… I…" Cyborg began to stutter.

"Your first car was an old PT Cruiser that you bought from your uncle. You crashed it the third time you ever drove it, because earlier that night you had broken into Red's wine cellar."

"You…"

"And if our child was a daughter, you wanted to name her Star, because you used to look up at the stars, and imagine that one of them was really your mother looking down on you. That was why you always wanted to be an astronaut, ever since you were a little kid."

"I never told anyone that." Cyborg said quietly.

"Anyone except me."

"Terri…" A tear ran down the human side of Cyborg's face.

"Yes, Hank. It's me." Terri smiled warmly, beginning to cry herself.

Seeing Cyborg withdraw, Superman cautiously let go of him. Cyborg walked toward her slowly. Terri touched her hand gingerly to the human half of his face. "This has to stop, Hank. You know it has to stop."

In her eyes, Cyborg saw visions of how their life would have been. He saw himself, still human, and Terri, holding a baby girl in her arms. A baby girl named Star, he realized. Cyborg felt his rage slowly returning. He looked to Superman. "Him! He took that away from us! That life… don't you get it Terri? He took that away!"

"But killing him won't bring it back. Hank, you _know _that."

"I know." Cyborg muttered quietly.

"I can't believe this is actually working." Superman sighed.

"Yeah, now if only you could get it through your thick skull that the same thing applies to you." A baritone voice said, and Superman looked over to see Clark Kent standing next to him, wiping a tear from his eye and holding a bucket of popcorn as if he were watching a touching scene in a movie.

"Is the popcorn really necessary?" Superman asked, irritated.

"Hey, it's your hallucination." Clark shrugged.

He noticed Diana was looking at him awkwardly, and realized he was talking to himself. He also realized that she was still afraid of him. And she had every right to be. In fact, she _should _be afraid, Superman decided. Because once Cyborg was no longer a threat, he would kill her.

Batman began to moan, coming out of his stupor. The first thing he saw when his vision re-focused was Cyborg crying.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"See Bruce? My way works." Diana grinned, helping him up.

"What the hell is going on now?" Dick asked, standing up.

"Yeah, who's the hot chick sweet talking the big red death machine?" Flash asked, scratching the back of his head.

Just when things were looking up, all hell broke loose. It started when the sound of engines roared in the sky. Then a series of large SHIELD jets became visible.

"No! Not now!" Diana screamed.

A hail of machine gun fire immediately opened up upon Cyborg. "Damn it!" He immediately used his body to shield Terri, taking heavy fire.

"They're going to ruin everything!" Diana threw her arms up in the air.

The SHIELD team began to drop down, followed by 1,000 armed troops. The main agents looked different though. Specifically, they had bone-spikes protruding from their arms. All except the Red Hood, who hit the ground and immediately sprung into action.

He pulled out a powerful magnetic pulse generator, and focused it on Cyborg, pulling the trigger. Cyborg's metal body was jerked backwards violently. Red Hood lifted the generator and used it to thrust Cyborg in a direct hit by Silver Monkey, who's strength impressed even him. He put a dent in Cyborg's chest and kicked him into a jeep, where a series of soldiers with gatling guns immediately opened fire.

Superman recognized the blue flare from the bullets. They were bullets designed by Cadmus to hurt even him, and they worked, too. Cyborg seemed to have trouble getting up through the barrage of bullets. He unleashed a wave of heat vision and began to turn soldiers into piles of ash!

"Leave – me – alone!" He roared.

Soon Superman was under fire too, and began flash-freezing soldiers with his breath.

A series of powerful steel cables fired from guns and hooked to Cyborg's body, sending surges of electricity through him.

"Stop it!" Terri shrieked. "You're making it worse!"

"Turn up the voltage. Fry him." Red Hood ordered, and the people manning the guns that fired the electric cables turned a dial. Cyborg's entire body radiated blue. But he kept on moving forward, through the pain, ripping soldiers in half!

"Up the voltage more! Put him down!" Red Hood shouted.

"We can't sir."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"This is as high as it goes."

"What?" Red Hood looked toward the attacking Cyborg. "That much electricity would burn Superman to a crisp… what exactly are we dealing with here?" He pulled out the magnetic pulse generator again and fired. This time, it had no effect. "Shit! He's adapted! How the hell does metal adapt to magnetism?" He pulled out a gun instead. "Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He waited for Cyborg to turn around, ready to aim toward the still human section of his face. The moment he had a clear shot, he pulled the trigger.

Cyborg heard the gunshot and turned and moved just in time. The bullet scathed his cheek. "I'll rip you in two!" Cyborg spun around and morphed his forearm into a blade, charging toward Red Hood at super speed.

Surprisingly, Guardian zoomed in front of him, moving at equal speed. He delivered a crushing blow to Cyborg that toppled him over. "This modified Doomsday DNA… kicks ass!" Guardian clenched his fists, and then glanced over to Galatea. "And of course, we have the first ever test subject to thank for that."

Galatea felt her rage boil, and backed away, trying to contain herself. Then she saw Dick. He had been thrown into the side of a car by someone, and his body lay limp.

"No! No! Dick…" She felt it happening now. Something was taking over again. She was about to lose control.

Her eyes turned a bright red, and her pupils morphed into slits. A low growl escaped her throat. The rage of Doomsday had consumed her again. She roared and charged into the ocean of soldiers, attacking furiously and killing everything in sight.

Dick raised his head to see Galatea tearing out a guy's spine! "Galatea?" He got up and began moving toward her, seeing her butcher more and more soldiers. Plastique came around back, but Galatea seemed to sense her somehow, and spun around violently, smashing the woman into a building. Galatea then started strangling Plastique.

"Galatea! Stop!" Dick put his hand on her shoulder, but she elbowed him in the ribs, sending him flying back. She threw Plastique down and looked at Dick murderously. "Galatea? What the hell…"

"D- Diickk." She managed, sounding confused. Then she took off into the sky, shooting beams of heat vision into the crowd along the way.

Dick shot a tracking device onto her back. He needed to find out what was going on.

Cyborg finally pulled on the cables with enough force that he ripped the guns into the air. He smashed them down onto the various military vehicles circling him.

Superman was beginning to escape the crowd, when a woman stopped him. Terri!

"What the hell do you want?"

"I- I just wanted to say… I do forgive you." Terri said sheepishly.

"I didn't ask for you forgiveness. Honestly I couldn't care less." Superman snapped, pulling away from her. "Although I do have to point out that you're an idiot if you really do forgive me. Especially since I've done nothing to apologize, nor do I plan to."

"Well, you did do something."

"What?"

"You didn't kill me when I stopped you, just now."

"Don't press your luck. I could change my mind at any moment."

Then a shadow passed over them, one that Superman recognized. In an instant, it was gone. "You should hide. Now." Superman said.

"What is it?" She asked.

Then a batarang sailed out and sliced her in the neck! She fell to the ground, blood pooling.

"I warned you." Superman looked up to see Lord Batman perched atop a gargoyle, staring down at him.

"I didn't intend to kill her, but she got in the way." Lord Batman said emotionlessly.

Terri was still struggling to hold on to life. She wouldn't die again. She began to crawl, trying to find a safe place.

"Persistent little bitch, isn't she?" Johnny Quick exclaimed, zooming into the area.

"Leave her be. We're here for Superman." Lord Wonder Woman stepped out of the shadows.

"And this time, you're not getting away." Arsenal stepped out behind her, holding his bow at the ready.

"Let me guess, Luthor hired you?" Superman grinned.

"We made a deal." Lord Batman nodded. "Johnny, run out and pick up our little souvenir, will you?"

"On it." Johnny Quick zoomed out into the battlefield.

"Let's have him finished before Quick gets back." Lord Wonder Woman grinned.

"Good luck." Superman soared upward.

Lord Wonder Woman's lasso wrapped around Superman's ankle. He continued pulling up, slowed down a little. Lord Batman hurled a blunt-edged batarang into Superman's face, knocking him off kilter enough for Lord Wonder Woman to jerk on her lasso and pull him back to the ground, where she kicked him to Roy's feet.

Roy took a sleep-inducing arrow and shot into the wound in Superman's chest from point blank range, infecting his blood stream immediately. "Nighty, night, Superman." Roy waved. That was the last thing Superman saw before blacking out.

"Too easy." Lord Diana chuckled. "Should we finish him off now?"

"No, not yet. I want to be sure Luthor fulfills his end of the deal before we fulfill ours." Lord Batman interjected. Lord Wonder Woman slumped the man of steel over her shoulder.

Johnny Quick then arrived back. "Heads up." He tossed Clock King's time altering device to Lord Batman. "I swiped it off of Queen. It wasn't hard, he's got a concussion or something."

"Alright, then lets head off. Oh, and one more thing…" Lord Batman then tossed an explosive pellet toward Roy! It went off, blasting Roy across the pavement. "We don't need him anymore." The Justice Lords then took off, leaving Roy and Terri unconscious, and Terri dying.

_Meanwhile, in outer space…_

Kara floated near the sun, dangerously close, in fact. Cyborg's blow had knocked her unconscious, and now she was being pulled into the giant ball of fire that was the sun. She woke up, feeling the solar rays energize her, powering her. She felt stronger than ever. And then she felt something amazing, in her back…

She moved her legs effortlessly. "No way!" She smiled. Then she turned and began to fight, resisting the sun's gravitational pull. She pushed outside into the void of space, and quickly remembered that she couldn't breathe. Luckily her Kryptonian body could withstand the pressure of space.

Suffocating, she knew she had to get down to Earth fast. She began to soar as fast as she could manage, and energized by direct contact with the sun, that was really, really fast. She rocketed toward the Earth, using her super vision to zero-in on the battle going on in Metropolis. Apparently SHIELD had arrived, but Cyborg was tearing through them like they were nothing. Within seconds, she rammed down into the army of SHIELD soldiers, generating a shockwave that blew hundreds of them off their feet.

"Kara?" Dick asked, running toward her with a disappointed look on his face. He had though for a moment that she was Galatea.

"The one and only. What's with the stupid look on you're face?"

"You- you can walk!"

"Yup. Apparently a near-death experience with the sun can do that."

"You're also kind of glowing… are you feeling ok?"

"Better than ever." She looked at her hands and realized Dick was right, she was literally glowing. It was as if sunlight were radiating from her body. She remembered something Batman had said once… that her cells absorb sunlight more efficiently than Superman's do. She was beginning to believe him. She also noticed that she had a really, really bad sunburn, but she could deal with that later on. She moved so fast that Dick couldn't even see her, and she plowed through what was left of SHIELD's forces, taking them all down.

The main SHIELD agents grouped together. "We've been ordered to retreat." Red Hood sighed irritably.

"What? Why?" Guardian demanded.

"I don't know, but we're supposed to leave now. I just got a call from Waller herself." He then pushed a button on a remote, and the SHIELD airship shot a tractor beam down that pulled them all up into it. Then the ship disappeared into the clouds, and soon it was gone.

Cyborg immediately sped off to where he had last seen Terri. She had followed Superman into an ally. When he got there, Superman was gone. And Terri was there, lying in a pool of blood.

"No- no, no, no! Not again! NO!" Cyborg shrieked. "He took her from me again! Son of a bitch!" Cyborg immediately reasoned that it must have been Superman who attacked her. "That's it! I'm done with this!" Cyborg took off into the sky.

"Hank! Wait!" Wonder Woman pleaded, but he was already gone. "Damn it!" She kicked a piece of rubble. "It working before those gun-toting psychopaths showed up!"

"Superman's gone too." Batman pointed out.

"So is the time-device." Green Arrow moaned, waking up.

"What?"

"I don't know, I woke up and it was gone. Sorry." Arrow sulked.

"Hey guys, I think I know where it went." Question said, holding up a batarang covered in blood.

"That's not mine." Batman said grimly.

"No, it must belong to the Justice Lord's Batman." Tim sighed.

"Wait a minute…" Huntress looked at the gash on Terri's neck, then at the batarang. "That means Superman didn't attack her this time!"

"Yeah, but try convincing Henshaw of that." Question shook his head.

"So we're right back to square one." Black Canary sighed.

"And with less options than before." Batman agreed.

"Guys, I think she's still alive!" Diana said, examining Terri. "It's faint, but there's definitely a pulse here!"

"I doubt she'll be able to stop Cyborg again though." Huntress stated.

"Hey, everybody? Where's Volcana?" Flash asked.

Batman took a quick head count, and realized she wasn't present.

"Look over there!" Vixen pointed over to a pile of debris not too far off. Breaker had apparently stayed behind when SHIELD left, because he was there, standing over a red headed woman…

"I already killed you once!" Breaker exclaimed, punching the woman. "I can't wait to do it again!"

Kara sprinted in and ripped Breaker off of Volcana. He jammed one of his new bone spikes into her arm, and kicked her away. His eyes were a bright red, a red that Dick recognized. He had seen the same shade in Galatea's eyes when she went berserk. What had Guardian said? Something about modified Doomsday DNA? And Galatea the first test subject?

_"Of course! That's what Cadmus did to her!" _Dick though. _"They must have modified it to remove the insane-rage part of it, though. These guys aren't losing control like she did."_

Breaker spun around to strike Kara, when the ground gave out beneath him, and he tumbled into the sewers. Volcana had been heating the road beneath Breaker's feet, weakening it. Finally it gave out. Breaker began to climb to the surface along the walls, when he made the mistake of ripping a gas line off the wall. Volcana hurled a fireball at him, and it ignited the gas, creating a monstrous blast. Breaker was blown to smithereens.

"See ya' asshole." Volcana grunted, wincing in pain. Breaker had broken several bones in her upper-body, scattered around various places. She stood slowly, with the help of Diana. "I'm going back to Anthony. Now."

_Meanwhile, in Hobbs Bay…_

Anthony Selton walked casually down the street. His mother had told him to stay in the abandoned apartment they had been living in, but of course, he didn't listen. He figured it would be a few hours before Volcana returned from the battle in Metropolis, which meant he had a few hours to go out and see what he could pick up from the stores without getting caught. He had become very good at stealing, and even better at running away.

As far as his mother knew, he only stole food, or anything else absolutely necessary for survival. But as far as Anthony was concerned, laptops and ipods were about as necessary as anything. He had stolen the laptop a while ago, the building next to the old apartment he used had free wireless internet, and he tapped into that quite routinely.

He heard a rustling in an alley, and looked to see a man getting mugged by two thugs. The thugs beat the guy up a bit before attempting to take his money.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Anthony yelled, just trying to do the right thing. It seemed really cool to him that his mother was like, a superhero now, and he wanted to follow in her footsteps.

"What was that, kid?" One of the thugs asked, shoving the victim down and walking toward Anthony.

"I said leave him alone!"

"This kid's got some spunk." The other thug said. Then he pulled out a knife. "We hate spunk."

Anthony bawled up his fists and punched the first guy in the stomach. That didn't really do anything. So for his next punch, Anthony hit a little lower. This time the thug doubled over and rolled onto the ground. The second guy, the one with the knife, ran toward Anthony. "You little brat!"

Anthony looked at the knife and realized how much trouble he was in. So he did the thing he was best at. He ran. Unfortunately the thug's legs were about twice as long as his, and he was pretty fast too.

Anthony sprinted as fast as he could, trying to lose the guy with the knife. He ran down into the subway station, where he knew he could hide among the crowd. He thought he was safe for a few minutes, until he saw the two thugs pushing through the crowd. And they had brought friends. There were about six of them now!

Anthony shoved through the crowed himself, and tried to find a good place to hide. He saw an old blocked off area that was scheduled for code updates, and figured that was as good a place as any. He ducked under the **CAUTION **tape and hid behind a wall, knowing they probably wouldn't follow him there. He took a few more steps to the left just to make sure, when his part of the floor gave way beneath him!

"Ah!" Anthony fell into the hole and slid downward, landing hard on his side. He hit concrete. He stood up painfully, rubbing his arm. He was in a hallway, with a few dim lights on the ceiling. The floor and walls were made out of concrete. At first Anthony thought that he must be in the basement, but then he remembered that the subway tunnels were already below the ground, so there wouldn't be a basement. "Where am I?" He asked the open air. He looked at the lights on the ceiling and saw a company name, LexCorp. "LexCorp? Weird." He looked up from where he had fallen. It was too high to climb, and he figured that since no one was supposed to be in that area, there wouldn't be anyone around to hear him if he yelled for help.

So not having anywhere else to go, Anthony walked down the hallway, hoping to find a way back up.

_Meanwhile, in the old LexCorp Labs beneath Hobbs Bay…_

Lords Batman, Wonder Woman, and Johnny Quick had arrived in the abandoned LexCorp research lab after Luthor had given them the pass codes to get in.

"There, you have your lab." Lex said over the phone. "Now for your end of the deal. Kill Superman, and bring me his head!"

"Of course, Mr. Luthor." Lord Batman said. He then turned to Superman, lying on an operating table, still unconscious. "He'll be dead soon enough."

"He'd better be! I don't have a whole lot longer, you know!" Luthor coughed on the other end. He sounded unhealthy. "And I refuse to die before he does!"

"I'll get right on that, Mr. Luthor." Lord Batman then hung up. He turned to the new batch of fetuses growing in the tanks. He had turned them into ultra-powerful soldiers as well, but it would be months before they had grown to a stage where they would be useful. Luckily, time was no longer an obstacle. Lord Batman held up the time-altering device they had taken, and aimed it at the fetuses. He then activated the device, and watched them age months in a matter of seconds! Soon they were full grown and ready for use! "Perfect." Lord Batman put the device away. "I'll have to activate them, then have Quick make another trip to the abortion clinic. After all, I need more fetuses to make more warriors." He looked at Superman on the operating table. "But first things first… I have to honor my agreement."

He moved over and picked up the shard of kryptonite they had been carrying around sine Ultraman was killed. He prepared to plunge the shard into Superman's heart, when Lord Wonder Woman got up to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"I don't want our baby to see that sort of thing at such an early age. It'll traumatize her." Lord Wonder Woman explained, holding the infant in her arms.

"It won't even remember anything! It's only a couple days old!"

"Just let her go, babies creep me out anyway." Johnny Quick shrugged.

Lord Diana left the room without another word.

"I swear, that baby is driving the woman insane." Lord Batman said, raising the shard again.

Then there was a rustling noise at the other end of the room, and a kid, around 10 years old, with red hair and freckles fell out of an air vent! "Man!" Exclaimed. "I was hoping that'd get me out of here!"

"There's a damn kid in here!" Johnny Quick shouted. "I thought you said this place is hidden?"

"It is." Lord Batman nodded.

"Then _how _did some kid get in?"

"Who cares. Take care of him."

"Whoa." Anthony said, looking around. "This is so cool!" He looked at Lord Batman. "Oh I get it! I must be in the Batcave, right?"

Johnny Quick zoomed in from behind and picked Anthony up by his right ankle, holding him upside down. "Not quite, you little brat."

"Ah!" Anthony yelled and used the best move he knew… he punched Quick in the crotch. Quick dropped Anthony and fell backward, cussing loudly.

Anthony saw a door and made a break for it.

"Huh… Johnny, you are so useless." Lord Batman sighed, getting ready to throw a batarang at Anthony. But then Superman's hand shot up from the operating table and grabbed Lord Batman by the wrist! "What? You're supposed to be asleep for another three hours!"

"Kryptonian physiology. It defeats poisons a lot faster than human immune systems do. The Batman on _this _Earth knows that already." Superman threw Lord Batman into one of the giant test tubes containing the Ultra-Clones, smashing it.

"Uh… I'm just gonna, you know, leave." Anthony headed for the door. Johnny Quick started to stand and prepared to go after Anthony, but Superman released freeze-breath and iced Quick's legs! Superman then headed for the door when Lord Batman got to his feet angrily.

He threw a batarang straight toward Anthony.

"You know you're going to save him, right?" Clark Kent said, suddenly appearing next to Superman.

"Only because he could make a valuable hostage." Superman nodded.

"_Sure." _Clark Kent rolled his eyes.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Johnny Quick asked, raising an eyebrow at Superman. Superman punched Johnny unconscious before running in and tackling Anthony.

"Hey! You better put me down!" Anthony began to struggle.

"Shut up, stupid kid! I'm saving your life!" Superman snapped.

"Idiot." Lord Batman grinned, and then jerked on the controller. The batarang he had thrown was remote-controlled. He turned around in the air and spun back behind Superman heading straight for the chip in his head! It stuck in and burst into a wave of electricity, being an electric-batarang.

"Ah!" Superman screamed. There was a blue flash in his eyes, and he felt his scalp get dangerously hot as the chip in his brain was destroyed, completely broken this time. The surge in Superman's mind was like nothing he had ever felt. He tumbled through the door, still holding Anthony, when Lord Batman hurled a series of bombs toward him.

Reacting off of instinct rather than thought, Superman flew down the hallway. The explosion behind him made everything crumble. He smashed through the wall to find another room, with some sort of teleportation pod. He smashed into the control panel, destroying it, and a blue flash enveloped him and Anthony.

The next thing Anthony knew, he was falling down off a cliff, staring at a waterfall! "Oh crap!" Anthony looked at the water below. He was falling from probably a hundred feet. He knew that hitting the water from that high up would be like hitting concrete, and he also knew that even if he survived that, it would hurt him, meaning he would have very little chance of swimming out. He braced himself for the impact.

The blue light in Superman's eyes finally faded, and his head began to cool down. His senses came back to him, but he had absolutely no idea where he was. He saw Anthony falling, and rushed down as fast as he could. He caught Anthony about half way down, and floated to the ground next to the lake. "Are you ok, kid?" He asked.

"Get away from me!" Anthony squirmed free and made a break for it.

"Wait!" Superman clasped his hand on Anthony's shoulder.

"What? What do you want with me?"

"Who…" Superman began to stutter. "Who am I?"


	20. Devious Minds

Chapter Twenty: Devious Minds

"I told him to stay here." Volcana said, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sure we'll find Anthony soon enough Claire." Diana put her hand on the red headed woman's shoulder. "I can get people looking for him right away. But in the meantime, I think you should head back to Themyscira."

"No, I have to-"

"The healing waters there can heal you within a matter of hours. And I promise I'll let you know as soon as we find Anthony."

"Ok." Volcana sighed.

"You can take my plane, too. I'm going to stick around here for a while. Be sure to tell my mother that Terri is in critical condition."

"Sure." Volcana headed into the invisible plane, and took off.

About an hour later, Diana arrived in the Batcave, where some of them were beginning to regroup. Many of the heroes involved had been injured and were now at home recovering, but everyone who was still in good enough shape to continue the fight had arrived now. Batman, Dick, Kara, J'onn, Hawkgirl, John, Flash, Question, Green Arrow, Huntress, and Black Canary.

Not having the time or recourses left to take care of Terri, they transported her to a hospital in Metropolis that had been rated as one of the top medical facilities in the world. She would be in good hands there. What worried Batman was how her injury had been obtained. If Lord Batman had shown up at their battle, he must have had some devious motivations. And the disappearance of the temporal fast-forward device was really bothering the dark knight.

Tim and Question had both said that it would take the Justice Lord's several months to get an operation going again. But if they had taken that device, which Batman guessed they had, then they could speed up the process tremendously. But there was still the fact that they needed a hideout, and one with recourses too. A lab of some sort. Then a grim realization dawned on Batman. Superman had disappeared, and the Justice Lords needed a lab. It wasn't hard to make the connection. There were dozens of hidden LexCorp facilities hidden in Metropolis, but none of them were in use anymore since Mercy took office. Many of them had remained hidden though, some were never found. The Justice Lords must have struck a deal with Luthor, they kill Superman, and they get the lab. And with that and the temporal fast forward device, they had everything they needed to build an unstoppable army in a matter of days.

"Hey guys! Look who's coming awake." Flash yelled. Everyone moved over to the holding cell where they had previously kept Denise, who had now disappeared. Batman's security footage revealed that Jason had come and busted her out. So now the holding cell held none other than Roy Harper.

"Can you guys let me out of here? It's not like I'm going to try and escape. I know my limits." Roy stated.

Batman opened the cell door, knowing he would be more cooperative if he weren't locked up. Roy stepped out slowly, and as soon as he did, Green Arrow walked up and punched him in the face. Roy fell to the ground. "Ah! What the hell Queen?" He shouted.

"How could you be so stupid, Roy? Working for Luthor of all people?" Green Arrow barked.

"Don't be so damn hypocritical." Roy stood up, rubbing his cheek where he had been punched. "You were working for Luthor not even a year ago! You were in his superhuman police force or whatever."

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because I didn't go out on assassination jobs for the man! I didn't sell myself just to get my hands on a new drug!"

"In my defense, you've never tried shield. It's like-"

"Shut up Roy. I don't need to hear you describe your high."

"Well maybe if you had been a better influence on me, I wouldn't be in this mess." Roy shrugged.

"Don't try and turn this around on me! It's not my fault you're an idiot!"

"I learned from the master." Roy grinned, looking the emerald archer straight in the eyes. "And I didn't sell myself. Don't make assumptions."

"Then what did you do, Roy?"

"I tried to stop a worldwide conversion to totalitarianism, actually."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't really think I was in it just for the drug, did you? That was part of it, sure. But not the whole thing. You guys have no idea what shield really is."

"I have my assumptions about it." Question piped in.

"Stay out of it conspiracy boy, I want to know what he's trying to say." Green Arrow snapped.

"What is shield then?" Batman added.

"The drug shield came about around the same time that the team SHIELD was formed. Coincidence? No. It's all part of the big scheme." Roy led on.

"You're starting to sound like Vic." Huntress sighed.

"Go on." Batman nodded.

"Shield, the drug, was created by Cadmus scientists. They used mob connections to spread it among the masses…"

"Why?"

"Because shield isn't just a drug. It's a big trap. One that was set a couple years ago by LexCorp. And now Cadmus just might spring it."

_Meanwhile, at the SHIELD base…_

"You look pissed." Denise smiled.

"Cadmus didn't let us finish what we started." Jason muttered, kicking the Red Hood helmet across the room.

"You might be lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"I found some info on shield, the drug. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that. But I managed to get into some Cadmus files, and… you're going to want to sit down for this."

"Hurry up and tell me."

"I disabled the bugs in this room, they can't know that I'm telling you about this…"

"Get on with it!"

"Shield is basically a smaller, more concentrated dose of Venom. In fact, they're made from the same basic compound, with only a few modifications to the formula. It increases strength, speed, and healing process. For all intensive purposes, it makes you superhuman."

"I know that already. Anything else?"

"Oh yeah. I haven't gotten to the big part yet. Inside of just an ounce of shield, there are millions of nanites."

"Nanites? Are you serious?"

"Yes. Whenever a person uses shield, the nanintes enter the bloodstream, and they stay there pretty much permanently. And of course, they enter the brain pretty quickly."

"So what exactly do they do?"

"Right now the nanites are inactive, but Cadmus can activate them at any given time. And if they do, they completely take control over the person's body. And they can generate the effects of shield… and with that…"

"With that, they can have an army of super humans at their disposal with the click of a button." Jason finished. "Crap."

"Exactly. And that's not even the worst of it yet. All of us, we've been infected with the nanites too."

"What? How?"

"It was included in the second dose of the genetic modification. The nanites are in all of us."

"But I never took the modification."

"Yeah, but the nanites could have infected when we… you know…"

"Right. Damn it!" Jason punched the wall.

"I sent a powerful EMP pulse through my body when I found out about this, that _might _keep them from being activated. But I'm not sure."

"Doubt it'll work. They've probably been engineered to resist that type of thing."

"There is another source we can go to that might be able to tell us how to deactivate them. Lex Luthor."

"Why is that?"

"Because LexCorp originally created these nanites, several years ago actually. Cadmus just put them in the drugs." Denise explained.

"Alright." Jason moved over to the Red Hood helmet on the floor. "There is no way in hell I'm letting anyone control me. I'm going to have a little chat with Luthor."

"Try not to get killed." Denise pulled Jason down into a deep, lustful kiss. She knew that she was beginning to develop some actual attraction to Jason, but she had to ignore it. That wasn't her style. Denise La'Sure doesn't fall in love. She would just continue being a friend with benefits. "Can't wait till' you get back." She smiled.

"Who says we have to wait? Luthor isn't going anywhere." Jason smiled too and rolled into the bed with her.

"Jason… they're planning to kill you." She whispered. "Cadmus thinks you're becoming a liability. They say you don't follow orders, and you're too much of a wildcard. They're planning your death."

"I know. I've been expecting that."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Wait it out a while longer, and then when the need arises, I'll disappear." They met in a kiss again, and Jason peeled off his shirt.

"I'll miss you." She whispered in his ear.

"You can come with me."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, we'll be this generation's Bonnie and Clyde, or whatever the hell you want to call it. Minus the death in a police shootout, of course."

"And we'll just keep using each other."

"You know it."

_Meanwhile, in a forest outside Metropolis…_

Galatea woke up surrounded by destroyed trees and scorched landscape. She wondered if she had killed anyone on her rampage this time. She dearly hoped not. She leaned against the side of a fallen tree, tears threatening to escape. She vaguely remembered the transformation this time… Dick's voice had nearly brought her back to reality. Nearly. A single tear streaked down her face. She blinked hard, stopping any others from following it.

She needed to forget about Dick, because she could never get close to him now. If she ever got angry at him for even a moment, she had no doubt in her mind that she would snap. And she would kill him.

_Meanwhile, in an isolated mountain range area…_

Cyborg floated around in a stupor, trying to decide what to do. He had tried killing himself earlier, but his body wouldn't allow it. It kept recovering and then adapted to everything he tried. He hated the monster he had become. The monster Superman had made him in to.

He contemplated whether or not he should continue his quest for vengeance, or just sit in a cave and rot the rest of his life. So far he couldn't reach a final decision. "Hatred is all I have left… without I'm just an empty shell now." He muttered. He knew Terri would have wanted him to let it go, to try and move on. But he couldn't. Because that would mean letting go of her, and that was impossible.

"There he is!" He heard someone yell.

Two armed soldiers slid down a slope toward him. This was the third time he had been attacked that day. "Are you kidding me!" He shrieked. "For God's sakes just leave – me – alone!"

The soldiers both aimed large weapons toward him, and fired blue beams of energy. When they struck Cyborg, he immediately felt the sensation that he was coming apart. "What the hell?"

"CDR, Cellular Destabilization Ray." One of the soldiers announced.

"It tears you apart on a cellular level, literally making you nonexistent." The other guard said happily. Soldiers had been throwing new weapons at Cyborg all day, trying to find something that could actually kill him. He almost hoped they would succeed. Unfortunately, this one wasn't a winner. Cyborg was nearly killed by the blasts when he felt his body reacting. He actually tried to stop it, but could not. It overrode his thoughts and reacted on its own. Within seconds he had adapted, and the beams were suddenly having no effect.

"Figures." Cyborg muttered. He clapped his hands and sent a thundering shockwave at the soldiers, blasting them into the rock. "Tell your buddies to hit me with something that'll kill me a little faster. I can't have more than a second, or I'll adapt." Cyborg advised. Then he flew off.

_Meanwhile, back in the Batcave…_

After Roy had told the group what shield really was, he explained that he had been trying to get information from Luthor. He was working for a way to deactivate the nanites, since he figured Luthor would probably know.

"Seriously, I was helping." Roy pleaded.

"You could have explained this to us before Roy, we could have helped you!" Green Arrow groaned.

"I was being monitored, and you guys were busy with Cyborg. Plus… I didn't want to be stuck in your shadow anymore. I wanted to save the world on my own for once." Roy lowered his head.

"I know the feeling." Dick muttered quietly. "Bruce, Oliver, if you don't mind, I have a different job for Roy."

"What?" Batman raised an eyebrow.

"Well since we don't know where Cyborg or Superman are, and you guys will probably be sitting around here talking strategy against the Justice Lords, I figure now would be a good time for me to go out and look for Galatea. And if she snaps again, I won't be able to subdue her on my own, that's for sure." He looked to Roy. "He and I have always worked pretty well together in the past. I want him with me."

"Alright. How do you plan on finding her?" Batman asked.

"I placed a tracer beacon on her before she took off." Dick explained.

"Good, you're actually using your head. Go."

"Thanks." Dick grinned and took off toward the bat-helicopter.

"Whatever." Roy shrugged, beginning to follow. But then Batman grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "What?" Roy demanded.

"Galatea is a threat right now. Potentially a large one. When she loses control, she's like Doomsday with Kryptonian powers, and that's dangerous." Batman stated.

"Yeah, so? What's your point?" Roy pushed on.

"I couldn't give this to Dick, I know he would never use it. But…" Batman handed Roy a gun! "This will fire intense kryptonite radiation, enough to wither a Kryptonian away almost instantly. I designed it for Superman, but never used it."

"You want me to use this on Galatea?" Roy asked.

"Only if Dick can't get through to her. And do not tell him out this, he won't agree with it."

"Got it." Roy nodded, concealing the weapon and running into the helicopter along with Dick.

_A few hours later, at Stryker's Island…_

Luthor struggled to breath. He tried not to cough, knowing more blood would come out. He couldn't stop his body from shaking. He was pale and sweating, despite the fact that he was extremely cold. He was pale, and had become emaciated even though he was still eating regularly. He knew he didn't have long left. The doctor told he probably only had a few more hours. "Hours… and what have I accomplished? NOTHING!" Luthor flipped over a desk in rage.

"Hey, that's not true. You've accomplished being a massive pain in the ass for ninety percent of the human population." A voice said from behind.

Luthor turned around to see Red Hood, leaned against a corner. "How did you get in here?"

"Please. This is the second prison I've broken in to this week." Red Hood stated.

"I know. I seem to remember sending you to the first one!" Luthor yelled, using up all the breath he had, and then gasping for air again.

"You sent Roy. I went with him." Jason shrugged.

"And both of you were disappointments. Why are you here?"

"Nanites. Ones designed by LexCorp."

"Yes, that's what Roy wanted too. Unfortunately Roy couldn't do anything right."

"How do I shut them down?" Jason demanded.

"Why should I tell you that?"

"Because you probably want to keep your head." Jason drew a pistol and aimed it between Luthor's eyes, but Lex just chuckled.

"Mr. Todd, look at me! I'm on my deathbed anyway! Go ahead and shoot."

"Alright then. What would you propose? I'll wager just about anything for the info." Jason put the weapon away.

"Hmm." Luthor thought a moment. "Get me out of this hellhole, and take me to Hobbs Bay."

"Why Hobbs Bay?"

"That is not important to you. Just take me there tonight, and I'll tell you what you want to know."

_Meanwhile, in the woods at an unknown location…_

It was getting dark now, and getting cold. Superman had gathered some firewood from the forest, and with his eyes he had somehow started a fire. Anthony had tried to explain that to him, but he didn't really get it.

Anthony had explained a lot to him. Apparently he had been a hero; he had helped people and saved the world plenty of times. But then he had changed. He had started killing people, pretty much just for the fun of it. The weird thing was… neither made sense to him. Why would he constantly risk himself to help people who he didn't even know? Or why would he just go around slaughtering people with no good reason, that didn't seem like the best philosophy either. Couldn't he just be normal? Despite the fact that he could fly and start fires with his eyes, of course.

Anthony had made a sling and killed a couple birds earlier, and they were now roasting them over the fire.

"We need to figure out where we are." Anthony stated. It was the first time he had spoken in several hours.

"I could fly up and see if I can spot some civilization or something." Superman rose up into the atmosphere, and began scanning the area. But it appeared to just be forest. Then he finally spotted what looked like a temple off in the distance.

"Anthony! I think I found something!" He called. "It's pretty far away though."

"We'll head for it in the morning!" Anthony called back. "For now lets just make camp here."

_About an hour later, in the hidden labs beneath Hobbs Bay…_

"What the hell are you doing now?" Johnny Quick asked, holding an ice pack up to his head where Superman had punched him.

"I'm thinking ahead." Lord Batman responded. "I took some samples from Superman while we had him here. We have DNA from both Ultraman and Superman here. Ultraman is weakened by sunlight, Superman is strengthened by it. So I think I might as well improvise. The clones with the Superman DNA will be our day soldiers, and the Ultraman-DNA clones will be the night soldiers. That way our forces will be powerful at all hours."

"Wow, you're insane." Quick chuckled. Lord Batman ignored him.

"Remember the blood sample I took from Superboy back at the warehouse?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"He was affected by kryptonite, but nearly as much as Superman is. It only causes some physical pain while he is near it. I was puzzled as to why this is, so I did a little research. Turns out Superboy isn't _just _a clone a Superman. Half of his DNA belongs to Superman's, and the other half belongs to Lex Luthor."

"That's weird… almost like Luthor and Superman's son or something. Puts a disturbing image in your head." Quick grinned.

"My research proved that the combination of Kryptonian and human DNA create a powerful resistance to kryptonite. Not an immunity by any means, but a resistance. So I'll also give the daylight clones a dose of my own DNA, giving them a resistance to the rock."

"_Fascinating." _Quick was only half paying attention now.

"Where the hell is Diana, anyway?"

"Probably taking care of that child of yours. You know, the one who you've been ignoring?"

"I have no intentions of being a father. It conflicts with too many of my other goals. Fatherhood creates love, and love would soften me up too much."

"So you don't love Diana?"

There was no answer from him. Suddenly the door burst open, and Lex Luthor stumbled in, sweating heavily and shivering uncontrollably.

"What are you doing here Luthor?" Lord Batman demanded.

"Shut up!" Lex barked. "I don't care what you have to do, keep me alive!"

"What's our motivation?" Quick teased.

"I gave you permission to use this lab under the condition that you killed Superman. You failed to uphold your end of the deal. But fortunately for you, I'm willing to put up another wager. Keep me alive, for just a while longer. Long enough that I can see the bastard die by other means!"

"Well that _would _be an interesting proposal, except that we already have the lab. So you really have nothing to offer us in return. Especially since you are certainly in no condition to take it back." Lord Batman reasoned.

"Fine. You want a reason?" Lex raised his voice a loudly as he could manage too, and yelled, **"**SAFETY OVVERRIDE! ACTIVATE SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE!"

Suddenly an alarm began to blare, and an automated voice rang out, **"SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. DETONATION IN 10 – 9 – 8 –"**

"You wouldn't." Lord Batman stated.

"Try me." Luthor chuckled, wiping blood from his mouth. "It's not like I have anything to lose. I'm dying anyway; I might as well go out with a bang!"

"I'm out!" Quick bolted for the door, only to find that it would not open.

**"5 – 4 – 3 –" **The automated voice continued.

"Alright! Stop the damned self destruct! I can keep you alive for a few more days!" Lord Batman decided.

"SAFETY ACTIVATE." Lex announced, and the countdown stopped. The alarm died.

"Johnny, take Luthor to the preservation chamber that I uncovered. Just turn it on, and it should do the rest. It'll probably double Luthor's current lifespan."

"Got it. Come on Mr. Clean." Johnny Quick tapped Luthor's bald head, and they headed toward the preservation chamber.

Deciding the take a break from his work, Lord Batman finally found time to check where the teleporter had beamed Superman and the kid off to. His eyes lit up when he read the panel. The coordinates were that of Themyscira!

Lord Batman grinned. "I think it might be time for our Wonder Woman to pay a visit back home."


	21. The Problem with Power

Chapter Twenty-One: The Problem with Power

Superman and Anthony sat in the darkness, lying around a low fire. Anthony had decided to keep the fire low, because he knew that in the Old West, people would keep fires low to avoid drawing attention. It seemed like the kid had a good idea, so Superman listened. But the low fire had still attracted the attention of two Amazons…

"_Him…" _Artemis growled, pointing to Superman. She recognized this man as the one who had beaten, raped and even killed Diana. And though she and Diana didn't always get along, the idea still enraged her.

Artemis began to move in for an attack, but Phillipus grabbed her wrist. "Tomorrow." Phillipus said. "He is powerful. It will take more of us to defeat him. And when we do… we'll punish him."

_Meanwhile, in Superman's dreams…_

Superman saw something odd. Himself… as a teenager. He was walking out of a high school; it looked like the end of a school day. There was a girl with him, tall and thin, with shimmering eyes and silky hair. "So… we're out of high school now… what are you going to do?" The girl asked him. Superman realized for the first time that most of the kids were wearing black robes, and there were parents celebrating. It must have been a high school graduation.

"I think I'll head to Metropolis. I'd like to be a reporter." The teenage Clark said.

"I'll get out of Smallville too. Probably go to college in Metropolis."

"You just can't keep away from me, can you?" Clark grinned.

"Watch it Kent." She smiled too. Then a shadow crossed over her face. "So… really, what about us? I mean, are we…?"

"Lana…" Clark sighed. "I really do love you. But there are certain, uh, setbacks."

"Like what?"

"Hey! Clark!" A voice called from behind. Clark looked and saw Jonathon and Martha Kent standing by an old truck. "You're not out of Smallville yet, which means you have a job on the farm!" Jonathon yelled, though it was clear that he was only half serious. Clark decided to take the excuse to leave.

"I have to go." He said, before running off toward the truck.

The image suddenly swirled, it began to change into a different scene. Superman saw… well, Superman. He was flying through the air, soaring after a falling plane! He came around front and grabbed the front of the plane, and then worked to keep it steady. Moving slowly, he lowered the plane to the ground, and then ripped open the door.

The plane had been taking by terrorists! They were holding all of the passengers hostage.

"It's over! I stopped the plane already, give up!"

In butchered English, one of the terrorists replied, "This is only the beginning of your end!" He pushed a button on a trigger, and a bomb in the back of the plane activated! The timer read one minute.

Each of the four terrorists grabbed a hostage and held a gun at their heads. "You cannot capture us and stop the bomb at the same time!" One of them yelled, his English slightly better. The terrorists backed out of the plane and began moving toward a helicopter that was arriving for them.

Superman moved for the bomb, and found that he had no idea how to deactivate it. Instead, he raised it into the air and soared out into the sky, hurling the bomb as high as he could. The explosion thundered in the sky, and shrapnel blasted into his chest, tearing apart his symbol.

Superman then turned to and searched for the helicopter. It was nearly out of sight. Superman sailed after it, but they began throwing the hostages out of the helicopter! Superman dove downward and grabbed two of the hostages, and managed to blow the fourth onto a tarp above a small shop, keeping him alive. But Superman found the fourth hostage too late.

The teenage girl crashed into the concrete, and blood pooled around her. She was dead.

"No!" Superman put the two hostages on the ground before falling to his knees, clasping his hands around his head. He punched the sidewalk and his fist drove into the concrete. The terrorists had gotten away.

The scene shifted again. This time Superman saw himself staring at a building where over 200 hostages had been taken, by the same terrorist group about two weeks later. Superman flew through the wall of the building and moved faster than the human eye could see, taking down all of the terrorists within a minute.

Then a door opened up, and the leader of the organization stepped in, clapping his hands. Superman recognized him. He was the one who had taken the teenage girl two weeks before… likely the one who had dropped her out of the helicopter.

"Most impressive, man of steel." He said. "You are truly powerful, yes. But you do have one, blatantly debilitating weakness."

"And what would that be?" Superman asked strongly.

"Your morality." The terrorist held up a shotgun and blew the head off of a hostage. "A weakness which I do not suffer."

"Monster!" Superman screamed, flying toward him. He struck the terrorist with a thundering punch to the chest, causing him to spew nearly a pint of blood! Superman slammed the terrorist into a wall and held his fist in the air threateningly.

"Go ahead." The terrorist choked out through his thick accent. "Finish it. Do what you must."

Superman hesitated.

"Do it! Think of all the people I've killed! All the lives I have taken! You know that your world will be a better place without me, so kill me! Go on… give me what I deserve! Or do you not have the strength? Are you too blinded by your idiotic sense of compassion, to do what must be done?"

"You deserve it. I know you do." Superman barked. "But your fate is not mine to decide." Superman dropped the terrorist, who replied with a low chuckle.

"Pathetic. This is why I did not bother with the kryptonite. Because kryptonite is not your greatest weakness. There is one weakness that is by far more dependable. Your false sense of righteousness. Compassion is the enemy. If I have accomplished nothing… I hope I can show you that." The terrorist then removed his jacket, revealing a bomb strapped to his chest!

"No!" Superman yelled, but it was too late. The terrorist activated the bomb, powerful enough to easily level the building.

In a bout of desperation, Superman tackled the man just before the explosion, covering the majority of his body in a powerful embrace. The blast shattered the windows, but was for the most part contained by Superman, using his body as a shield.

When the smoke cleared, his costume was in tatters, his body smoldering. He had taken some physical damage, blood dripping from his body. He began to fall into unconsciousness.

Then, the scene started to fade away. "What the hell…?" The real Superman muttered, realizing that he had been watching his own memories. "Why would I do that… why did I risk my own life for all of theirs? What makes those hostage's lives more valuable than mine?" Superman shook his head in bewilderment.

The scene shifted one last time. Now, Superman saw Clark Kent, in adulthood. The place was different. It was a barn. The barn was so big, and it seemed so comfortable.  
Beside him was a beautiful woman who laid her head against his arm lovingly.

"Thanks for bringing me out here 'Smallville'." She said.

"I wanted to... Lois... I wanted to tell you something. It's important and if you are serious about marrying me then you need to know." he said.

"What do you want to tell me?" She asked.

"I'm... Lois I'm Superman." He said.

"Okay, really what big surprise did you want to tell me?" She asked.

"That's it, really." He said.

"Smallville, I already knew that. I figured it out some time ago." Lois said  
before she caught him in a deep and passionate kiss.

"You knew?" Clark asked when she pulled back.

"I'm not stupid. Throw on a slightly too large business suit, a pair of cheap glasses and comb your hair back. Do that and your Clark Kent. Take off the glasses, the suit, and there's no one there but Superman. The funny thing... Superman's the pretend. You're Clark through and through... I just don't know why I didn't realize that in the beginning." She said as she leaned into him again.

_After the dream, back on in the real world on Themyscira…_

"Lois?" Superman shot awake. He was disappointed when he saw that he was in the same forest he had gone to sleep in. The fire had died down to a pile of cinders now, and Anthony was still asleep. The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon.

Superman still couldn't remember a thing, but he did know a bit more. He knew that in the past he had been willing to sacrifice himself for people he didn't even know, which didn't quite make sense to him, and he knew there was a Lois…

Once he got off the island, he would find Lois, and she could help him remember. Then he heard something… something that sounded like hundreds of heavy footsteps. He shook Anthony.

"Five more minutes mom…" Anthony muttered.

"Hey! Anthony, wake up!" Superman shook him harder.

"What?" Anthony groaned, sitting up sleepily.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like people are coming. A lot of people."

"Dude, I don't hear anything except birds." Anthony shrugged.

Superman focused harder, and realized that he was hearing from several miles away! He tried to zero in on the sound, but had some difficulty doing so. He was able to make out some speech though. A strong feminine voice, speaking with great authority. It sounded like she was saying, _"Take the bastard down immediately."_

_ "What about the child?" _Another feminine voice asked.

_"Take him down too. At this point we do not know if he poses any threat, but we cannot take any chances." _The authority-voice replied.

Superman looked to Anthony wide-eyed. "Kid… I think we'd better get moving."

_Meanwhile, on a mountain on the outskirts of Metropolis…_

Dick and Roy had parked the helicopter about a mile and a half south of where they were. They didn't want Galatea detecting them and running off before they had a chance to talk to her.

"We're getting close." Dick whispered, looking at the tracking device in his hands.

They stopped behind a large rock and crouched low. Dick peered over with binoculars, and spotted Galatea, sitting on a plateau looking out in the distance. Dick nodded to acknowledge that he saw her.

Roy reached over and took the binoculars, wanting to look for himself. When he spotted Galatea, he let out a high pitched whistle. "Damn, Grayson! You sure know how to pick em'!"

"Shut up! She has super hearing, remember?" Dick whispered hoarsely.

"That's not the only thing she has." Roy smiled slyly before Dick snatched the binoculars back. "So what's the big plan of action, boy wonder?"

"Don't call me that ever again."

"Geesh, touchy are we?"

"How would you like it if I still went around calling you Speedy?"

"Good point."

"And as for a plan, I'm going to talk to her."

"_Brilliant_." Roy groaned. "I bet you were up all night coming up with that one. So where do I come in during this pleasant conversation you've dreamt up?"

"That's just in case she tries to run away. I'll need you to help me restrain her."

"Well in that case, I am _so _glad you chose me to accompany you here." Roy rolled his eyes.

"Well, I know restraining women is your specialty, Harper."

"Good to see you haven't lost that wonderful asshole trait of yours."

"I learned from the best."

"Batman?"

"You, you dumb ass!"

"Oh, yeah. I am by far the best at being an asshole."

Dick chuckled slightly and looked through the binoculars again, but Galatea was gone.

"Hey! Nice going Harper, she must have heard you!"

"Oh yeah, everything's _my _fault! You were talking just as much as I was!"

"Yes, but unlike you, there's actually a difference between me whispering, and me yelling!"

"I can be quiet if I want to. I just never want to."

"Whatever, let's just find her again!"

"Shouldn't be too hard. Just use that little gizmo again."

"This thing still says she's right there, she must have found the tracer and removed it."

"Oh, that sucks."

"Yeah, it does. Let's split up and search the area, I don't think she left the mountain. She'd be too afraid to go near civilization, in her current condition."

"So what am I going to do if _I_ find her?"

"Then you hide, and signal me." Dick tossed Roy a COM link.

"Alright, I'll go north-west, you head south-east." Roy suggested, taking off in his designated direction.

Once Roy was out of sight, Dick whispered, "You can come out now 'Tea."

Galatea stepped out of the shadows, a grim look on her face. "How did you know where-"

"I know you." Dick smiled.

"You shouldn't have come here."

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on? We can help you, Galatea. We can-"

"Stop! Please, just stop!" Galatea backed away, tears in her eyes. "Every time I lose control… people die. I don't ever want to be around you when that happens, Dick."

"Come on, 'Tea. We can fix this. We can make it so that it never happens again, we'll find a way."

"You don't understand!" Galatea's hands were shaking. "I can feel it… even now, I can feel it. It's always inside of me. It's just waiting for me to let my guard down, even for a second, so it can come out. I can't control it; I can barely even contain it! Please Dick, just leave. I don't want to hurt you."

"You don't have to be afraid of this thing, Galatea. We can face it together. Please." Dick walked toward her. "I love you. Please, don't give up just yet-"

Tears were streaming down Galatea's face. "If you love me, then please just go away!"

"Hey, Grayson?" Roy's voice called.

"Oh no." Dick groaned.

Roy stepped walked into the area. "I'm not having any luck man and- oh. You found her." Roy looked surprised. "Need me to hit her?"

"Ugh… no Roy, we're good. Please just go away, alright?" Dick shooed him.

"Dude, make up your mind. You tell me I'm here to help restrain her, and then she starts to escape, and you want me to leave?"

"You are such a – wait? What?" Dick glanced back over to Galatea, and realized that she was flying away quickly.

"Galatea! Wait!" Dick called, running after her.

"Please Dick… just go away." Galatea muttered. She then fired a weak beam of heat vision down, just enough to singe the ground in front of Dick, warning him to stay away.

Roy saw the heat vision hit just in front of Dick. "Guess that counts as her getting hostile." Roy shrugged, pulling out the weapon Batman had given to him. He took aim and fired at Galatea!

The green beam of energy struck her down, and the blonde fell to the ground with incredible force.

"Roy! What the hell was that?" Dick screamed.

"That was our backup plan." Roy shrugged. "Don't worry though; I had it on the lowest setting, not enough radiation to kill her. I figured that wasn't quite necessary yet."

Then there was deep growling sound, and Galatea rose from the rubble, her eyes red. She glared at Roy murderously.

"Oh… I really screwed up, didn't I?" Roy rubbed the back of his head.

"Big time." Dick backed up a little.

"Ok, no second chances I guess." Roy aimed the weapon at her again and pulled the trigger.

"Stop!" Dick tackled Roy to the ground, causing him to miss the shot. The weapon tumbled down off the plateau.

"Damn it Grayson! Get the hell off of me!" Roy struggled.

Then Galatea charged, roaring viciously.

"Oh-" Dick groaned.

"Shit." Roy nodded.

_Meanwhile, at Cadmus…_

"Ms. Waller we have a situation." A computer tech said as he came into the room with her.

"What situation?" She asked.

"Someone broke into our encrypted files. This wasn't done by Question. When he last cracked our encryptions he was like a bulldozer hitting a brick building. It got the job done, but it was sloppy. Whoever did this was able to piggyback several of our routers and got straight into our files. It was a work of art to be honest. I haven't seen anything like this since... Oh crap." The tech said.

"You where going to say since Denise Le'Sure was arrested for crashing her dead husbands entire business into the ground and causing the loss of two hundred thousand jobs." Waller said as her eyes narrowed.

"What should we do about her? Do you want to activate project short leash?" The tech asked.

"No, we don't need that. She's been crippled. Have Guardian bring her back here and we'll find out what she knows." Waller said.

"You mean we're going to do a 'Question' on her?" The tech asked.

"I mean we'll do whatever we have to do to get the information." Waller said  
darkly.

"Yes, Ms. Waller. Oh, and about Jason Todd… you know he is likely to interfere in this matter? He and Denise have developed a sort off… good-friends-with-benefits relationship, according to Plastique's last report."

"I know. This could be a perfect opportunity to test our nanites… deploy him and a few other agents on a false mission, and then activate the nanites inside the others. They should make short work of Mr. Todd."

_Meanwhile, in the healing springs of Themyscira…_

Claire groaned as she felt her bones heal. The waters felt so good as they ran over her body. The feeling of every inch of her skin tingling sent a very pleasurable ripple through her. She thought about Hippolyta as she delivered the news about Terri. Hippolyta had been surprised, but after she heard about the Justice Lords she nodded. She noticed how surprised the queen seemed when she mentioned the fact that there was another Princess Diana.

"I guess that I would be surprised about finding out that I had another son in  
a different universe..." Claire said.

She thought about the Justice Lords for a moment and wondered if her double had been caught. Then she wondered if she had met Cody, if they had created Anthony out of a moment of passion. She closed her eyes and let the thoughts of her son fill her heart. She wanted to believe that he would be fine. She needed to believe that he would be alright, because Anthony had been her entire world for so long.

_Meanwhile, at the SHIELD headquarters…_

Denise sighed in boredom. Jason, Silver Monkey and False Face had just been deployed to Santa Prisca for some covert mission. She and Jason both suspected that it was a hoax, a plan to finally get rid of him. He had assured her that he was prepared, and she hoped he was right.

She heard a knock on the door. "Who the hell is it?" She snapped.

The door burst open and Guardian stepped in. "Good morning, Ms. La'Sure."

"What do you want?"

"I just want to know what you know." Guardian said, moving toward her.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out." Guardian suddenly leapt forward and jammed a needle into her arm, pumping a fluid into her bloodstream. Suddenly Denise's vision became fuzzy, and she fell unconscious.

_Two hours later, in a Cadmus interrogation room…_

Denise woke up to the feeling of a cold breeze blowing across her skin. She  
looked down to see that she was dressed only in a paper gown.

"Hello little one. You have information we want, and it is time to reveal all  
you know." a man in a white lab coat said as he turned toward her.

"What is going on?" She demanded.

"Tisk... you are in no position to demand anything." He said as he reached  
over and turned a dial.

Suddenly several thousand volts ran through her making her scream in pain.

"What did you discover?" He asked.

"There... There's a sale at Saks..." She said.

Suddenly the current found her again and she let out a terrible scream.

"Again... What did you find?" He asked.

"They have boots half off..." She said.

"I can do this all night young one, can you?" He asked as he turned the dial  
on again and listed to her scream.

_Meanwhile, in the hidden labs underneath Hobbs Bay…_

"Athena's wisdom will smile on you, Aphrodite's beauty will come to you, Hera's motherly nature shall fill you, and forever shall you be my sun and stars." Lord Diana sang softly to the infant in her arms. "You're grandmother sang that to me when I was little, Martha. "She'd be proud to see you know. If it weren't for Clark, anyway. Classic story back on our world. He tried to take over Themyscira, and my mother gave her life in the battle. Phillipus took over, and Athena removed the island from the dimension all together. I could never go back there." Lord Diana explained somewhat sadly.

The door opened, and Lord Batman walked in.

"Did you come to see Martha?" Lord Diana asked hopefully.

"She's… cute." Lord Batman said with no emotion in his tone. "Now if you don't mind, I have a job for you."

"What would that be, darling?"

"Superman and that kid were teleported to Themyscira. I need you to go there and impersonate this world's Wonder Woman. From my understanding, Superman beat and raped her here."

"Sounds familiar." Lord Diana muttered, remembering the cruelty of Ultraman.

"I need you to go there and use that to your advantage. Stir things up, and then let the Amazons do the dirty work for us."

"I forgot about the Themyscira here. I bet my mother is still alive there." Lord Diana said distantly, suddenly entranced.

"Make sure Superman doesn't leave that island alive. He saw too much while he was here, he's a threat now." Lord Batman grimaced. "And a threat to the Lords cannot stand."

"That's exactly what Ultraman used to say." Lord Diana raised an eyebrow.

"One of his few ideals that I rants that I agreed with." Lord Batman nodded.

"Alright, I'll go." Lord Diana smirked. "But under one condition…"

"What?"

"You have to take care of Martha while I'm gone."

"Probably a bad idea."

"Probably. But you need to learn something about fatherhood." Diana practically forced the baby into the Lord Batman's arms.

"Fine." Lord Batman muttered.

Once she was in costume and ready to look the part, the evil counterpart to Wonder Woman took off toward the small jet that was found in the lab.

"Keep in contact. If you run into trouble, I'll deploy some of the clones. It could be an excellent test anyway." Lord Batman informed her.

"Got it." Then she took off, trying to hide her excitement about going back home.

"Satisfying, isn't it?" Luthor asked from his preservation pod.

"What?" Lord Batman glanced back at him.

"The power. With that clone army behind you, you feel unstoppable don't you?"

"Because I am."

"Hah. You have no idea how many times I've dealt with that godlike feeling of power… but I warn you, what you're experiencing right now, it won't last."

"Why? Because Superman is going to foil it? Sorry Luthor, but I'm not as sloppy as you are. I won't allow that to happen."

"No." Luthor chuckled. "Not at all. I have every confidence in your intellect, as well as your power. You are one of the few people who I've ever had respect for."

"Then what do you mean, Luthor?"

"I mean the feeling won't last… because it will never be enough." 


	22. Deception

**This update took FOREVER. I apologize for the long wait everyone. I've had some medical issues going on lately, and I had surgery a few days ago, so I haven't exactly felt like writing. But I'm fine now, and I'm ready to start updating again! **

**I promise this chapter is worth the wait, it's all building up to a few huge, world-shattering events in the next chapter, and I promise an update will never take this long again. Hope you enjoy :P**

Chapter Twenty-Two: Deception 

Batman displayed the maps for everyone to see, showing two different locations, both in Hobbs Bay. "There are two different labs hidden in this area. Both have the recourses that the Justice Lords need, which means that they could be hiding out in either one of them."

"If I'm not mistaken, these labs were mainly used for cloning, right?" Question asked.

"Correct." Batman nodded. "This first lab was the one used to create Bizarro. And the second was used a few years later in an attempt to clone Supergirl."

"Me?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, they called the clone Mayan. But they never had a chance to activate her. Mercy shut down the labs before the process could be perfected."

"So both labs are ideal for the Lord Batman's work, but we have no idea which lab he's using." Green Arrow summed up the situation.

"Correct. So we'll break into two teams, one led by me, the other led by J'onn. Both teams will infiltrate a separate lab, but for now, this is observe and report. Nothing more. The team that finds the Justice Lords may not engage them. Contact the other team, and we'll rendezvous to coordinate and effective strike."

"We outnumber them pretty drastically, assuming they don't activate the clones." Flash pointed out.

"Which is why they won't get a chance to activate them. We'll hit hard, hit fast, and take them down before they even know we're there." Batman reasoned.

"What about the clones though… I mean, what do we do with them?" Canary inquired.

"They can be real people. Galatea proves that." Green Lantern added.

"We'll do what we have to. If the situation calls for it, then we'll destroy them." Question decided.

"No, we won't." Diana argued. The entire group looked at her. "We are not like Kal, and we are not like the Justice Lords. Those girls didn't ask to become clones like this. They may not be human like us… but if we kill them, we're no more human than Kal is."

"Diana, I agree. I really, honestly do. But what else do you suggest?" Hawkgirl asked.

"We'll find a place for them somewhere. But we will not kill."

_Meanwhile, at Santa Prisca…_

Jason dropped down in a forested area, with Silver Monkey and False Face right behind him. Jason knew this place pretty well. It was the hellish place where Bane had grown up. And Cadmus had planned for it to be Jason's funeral ground.

Jason heard the sound of a dagger being pulled and whipped around, just barely dodging a stab from Silver Monkey, as the blade sliced across his cheek. Jason kicked the assassin back and pulled out his Uzi. But Silver Monkey was even faster than normal, and Jason realized that the nanites were already in effect. Monkey snapped Jason's wrist before he could fire, causing him to drop the gun. He then flipped Jason onto his back and stomped on his chest, causing him to gasp for air.

Jason grabbed a hold of Silver Monkey's ankle and twisted hard, flipping the assassin onto the ground with him. In a heartbeat Jason was on his feat and heading toward his fallen gun, when Monkey grabbed him from behind and smashed him into a tree. Jason punched him in the jaw and kneed him in the stomach. Silver Monkey usually wasn't this sloppy in combat; the nanites apparently increased the person's physical attributes, but dulled their actual skill.

Monkey stumbled backward and Jason struck him down. A blast rang out and Jason ducked as a series of bullets blasted into the tree. False Face stepped out of the shadows with a shotgun in hand. Jason waited for False Face to take aim before grabbing Silver Monkey and throwing him into the path of the next shot, causing False Face to blow the martial artist's head off!

Jason pulled a shuriken from Silver Monkey's belt and hurled it at False Face, slicing the shotgun out of his hands. Jason sprinted over and performed a flying kick, soaring toward False Face. But under the control of the nanites, False Face's reflexes were remarkably faster. He grabbed Jason's leg and swung him face-first into a large rock. Blood smeared from Jason's nose, but he barely even flinched. He was far too pissed off to react to pain.

Jason used his free leg to kick False Face in the chest, making him let go. Jason flipped to his feet and pulled out two pistols, emptying both clips into False Face's chest. Jason breathed a sigh of relief, but this was quickly interrupted when a strange noise began. And False Face's bullet wounds began to heal!

"What the hell? Ah! Must be the damn nanites! I forgot Denise said something about rapid healing!" Jason said to the open air, angry with himself for forgetting this.

Soon False Face was back on his feet, and swung a punch at Jason. Jason ducked out of the way and the criminal's fist bore into a tree. Out of weapons that would be effective, Jason smacked False Face out of the way and broke into a sprint.

Once False Face pried his hand free of the tree, he turned and followed in Jason's footsteps. False Face reached a clearing with a small wooden building that was once used for beating prisoners in Santa Prisca. A swift shadow headed toward the building. False Face drew his pistol and immediately opened fire on it, but the shadow was too quick and False Face missed each shot. The shadow seemed to head into the building through a broken window in the back. False Face chuckled and placed his pistol back into the holster. He walked slowly toward the building and reached into his pack, pulling out a Molotov cocktail that he had prepared.

He raised his arm to throw the Molotov into the building, when there was a fast shuffling off to his side. Instinctively he reached down with his other hand to pull out the pistol, only to find that it was missing.

"Looking for this?" Jason's voice called from behind. False Face turned around just in time to see Jason fire the gun. The bullet soared directly into the Molotov, shattering the bottle, the only thing containing the chemical fire inside. Instantly, False Face's body erupted into flames! False Face dropped limply to the ground, burning. Jason walked toward him whistling, and knelt down, looking into his eyes.

"Hey Cadmus!" Jason yelled. "I'm sure you've got your little puppet here wired somehow, which means that you're hearing all of this, and you know that I just turned your hit man into burnt toast. I just thought I'd let you know… I've got your number Waller. And nobody controls Jason Todd." Jason then fired off the last of the pistol bullets right between False Face's burning eyes, and began to walk away.

A rabbit came running out the wooden building, the rabbit had been the shadow that False Face was chasing! It looked up at Jason and tilted it's head. "Get out of here rodent!" Jason kicked the rabbit, making it run away. "Rabbits. Nothing but carrot rats." Jason grumbled, walking off to leave the island.

_Meanwhile, on a mountain area outside Metropolis…_

Galatea struck Roy forcefully, sending him soaring. She then turned her sights on Dick, and fired a wave of heat vision toward him. Dick leapt into the air, evading the rays. He shot a grapple into a wall of rock behind her pulled himself over to it. "Galatea! Please, stop this!" He begged. She turned and delivered a thundering a punch into the rock, crumbling it. Dick rolled to avoid being crushed, and got to his feet slowly. "'Tea! I know you're in there somewhere! I can help you, please just listen to me!"

For a moment she seemed to pause, as if remembering something. But then the rage came right back, and she flew at him violently. Dick ducked beneath her and rolled away. "Damn it… it's not enough." He grumbled. "If only I could talk to her without all the rage going on." Then an idea began to form in Dick's mind.

"Roy!" He called.

"Yeah?" Roy stood up painfully, hunched over from Galatea's hit.

"I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Keep her occupied for just a few minutes!"

"Are you insane? She'll kill me!"

"So you're afraid of a girl? Wow, what a chicken."

"Dude, I'm not ten years old, ok? That isn't going to work."

"Come on Harper, I need you!"

"That's your problem."

Galatea came around back and swung a powerful kick at Roy. Roy leapt back and shot an arrow into her face, having no effect, just as he had expected. Taking the second best course of action, Roy broke into a sprint. She followed after him, and he began constantly dodging her super-fast attacks.

"Good job Harper!" Dick yelled with a grin, reaching for his communicator. He contacted both Kara and J'onn on a three-way-call.

"Hey?" Kara answered.

"What is it Richard?" J'onn responded.

"Ok, I need some serious psychic stuff over here ASAP." Dick said.

"Then why are you calling me?" Kara asked.

"Because you have a psychic link to Galatea. I plan to communicate with her through you."

"Dick, that only works while one of us is asleep."

"Normally yes, but that's were J'onn comes in. J'onn do you think you could like, access the psychic link? And maybe patch me into it?"

"I suppose it's possible, but not from this distance. You are outside my psychic range." J'onn explained.

"But I'm close to Galatea… so if you were to access that link between her and Kara, do you think maybe you could connect to Galatea and maybe branch it off to me from her?" Dick suggested.

"It's a long shot, but it just might work. Wait a moment." Then the communicators went offline. Dick looked over and saw that Galatea had Roy by the throat, and was choking him to death.

Then, Dick suddenly felt something pushing into his mind, a bridge of sorts. A connection to Galatea. "It worked." J'onn's voice said. "But hurry. I don't know how long I can keep the link up."

"Galatea? Can you here me?" Dick thought.

"Dick?" Galatea's weakened voice came through.

"Yeah, it's me 'Tea. I'm here."

"What's going on? It feels like I'm asleep."

"You lost control again 'Tea. But you can take it back."

"It's not that easy."

"I'm here for you. We can do it together."

"You just never give up, do you?"

"No. I never turn back on the people I love."

"Dick… I can't stop… I can't control it, I just can't-"

"Stop it! We have to have fight this thing. Please."

_Outside the link, Roy's perspective…_

Roy tried to pry the woman's hands off of his neck, but his strength was no match for hers. His vision began to darken as he ran lower and lower on breath. Then something began to change. There was a flicker of blue in Galatea's eyes, and for a moment her grip loosened. Then her gaze went back to red and she started to kill him again. But then there was another faint blue flicker, and it was continually beginning to last longer and longer.

Galatea's voice came through. "You – do not – control me!" She screamed. Then the monster-Galatea's voice returned.

_**"You're so weak!" **_It rasped, overpowering Galatea.

Then something really bizarre happened. Dick's voice came through Galatea's mouth! "Come on 'Tea! Fight it! Fight – it!"

"What the hell?" Roy glanced over to Dick's body, and saw a blank stare in its eyes. "I have got to stop hanging out with these freaks." Roy muttered.

After several minutes of the tug-of-war between Galatea and her inner demon, she dropped Roy on the ground and began stumbling back as if she were in pain. Then the monster-Galatea screamed in an agonized tone, and fell to the group in a heap. Dick's body fell down too. For a moment, Roy thought they were both dead, until Dick stood up. Roy began walking toward him.

"Grayson! What was that? There is some freaky shit going on and-"

"Shut up Roy." Dick pushed passed him and ran over to Galatea's body, and picked her up in his arms. Her expression was blank.

"Galatea?" Dick's voice wavered.

For a moment, there was nothing at all. Then her eyes opened up ever so slowly. Blue.

"You persistent bastard." Galatea grinned, looking up at Dick.

"Good to have you back." Dick laughed, letting her onto her feet. She immediately hugged him as tight as she could without breaking his back.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." Dick responded.

"Get a freakin' room." Roy rolled his eyes. Then he began to walk off.

"Where are you headed Roy?" Dick called.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Wherever I wind up, I guess."

"Try to stay out of trouble Harper."

"You know I won't Grayson."

_Meanwhile, at Cadmus…_

Denise was breathing hard. For the last several hours they had been shocking her, quitting for a while and then going back to it. She watched as the tech left and she tried to free her hands. If she could get to the control panel she could reroute control of the nanites in someone close to her location had either taken Shield or was in SHIELD. She felt her left hand finally move a little and through quite a lot of will and pain she pulled it loose from the shackle. She began messing with the shackle on her right hand when she heard the door open. She looked up to see a small man walking in. He neared her and  
the viciousness in his eyes caused her flinch.

"Hello my dear. My name is Dr. Jonathan Crane, and your hosts was ever so gracious to allow me to come and experiment on you. See... They know that if someone experiences fear then they often tell everything they know to keep from experiencing it. So please, fight, strain, hold back, because it all allows me to study your fear longer." He said as he pointed a hose at her and sprayed his fear gas in her face.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Phillipus looked at the cinders of the burned out fire. She checked them and  
then looked back at Hippolyta. The Queen came forward and knelt down. There  
was something odd about this. The child shouldn't be safe with Superman. They would try not to kill the boy, but it could be that the boy was hostage, which if this was the case then killing the boy might be a mercy. There was no telling what that monster had already put the child through. She rose up and looked at Artemis.

"This Monster... has defiled one of our own. Like you and Phillipus said he deserves punishment for what he has done. We must destroy him, and the child... We do not know the child's intent, but perhaps death would be a tender mercy for the child since that monster brought him here." Hippolyta said.

_A few minutes later, in the forests of Themyscira…_

An arrow soared passed Superman's head. "What the heck was that?" Anthony yelled in surprise.

"That was the warning shot. Get down and try not to be seen." Superman told him gently, and Anthony ducked into the grass. Superman began scanning the area with his x-ray vision, trying to find the hidden attackers. Arrows wouldn't harm him, he was certain of that. But if he was as famous as Anthony had said, then he guessed the archers knew that too. There was probably something more in store for him. He spotted a few women in a nearby tree, and that was the last thing he saw before he was struck in the face by an ax! The hit was forceful enough that Superman smashed into the tree behind him.

A red headed woman stood before him, holding an ax in one hand and a sword in the other. "How dare you come here?" She screamed, swinging the ax again. But this time she hooked his neck behind the blade and pulled Superman down to the ground, where she rammed the sword into Superman's shoulder. It pierced him, and blood sprayed.

"What the…" Superman winced.

"These weapons are crafted of a special metal, a gift from Haphaestus. With enough force, it can pierce even you." The woman growled.

"Good to know. I'll be now more careful from now on." Superman said before flying upward with incredible force, flinging the woman off of him. Instantly more arrows erupted into the sky. Superman spun around at incredible speed, blowing with his super-breath to send all the arrows tumbling away from him. More women were becoming visible now. Superman realized that all of them were women.

A lasso wound around Superman from behind, and he was pulled into a powerful punch from a tall blonde woman. Superman tumbled to the ground, surprised by the woman's strength.

"I am Hippolyta! Queen of the Amazons!" She announced, rage filling her voice.

"Amazons? What, am I in Africa?" Superman asked, extremely confused.

"Do not play dumb with me, monster!" Hippolyta threatened, kicking him across the ground. More Amazons were closing in on him now. He began blasting them away with his heat vision, but only medium-strength beams. Not strong enough to kill them.

Hippolyta was attacking again. He tried using the same tactic on her, but she blocked the beams with bracelets of some sort.

"Why are you attacking me?" Superman asked frantically, dodging a strike from her.

"You know very well why!"

"To be honest, I don't know much of anything right now, lady. So if you could maybe explain it to me instead of punching me, we could reach a decent conclusion."

Superman was then caught by a punch from the red headed woman again, who had come in from behind. "Artemis! Where is the child now?" Hippolyta asked.

"I saw him hide in the grasses right before we attacked, but he doesn't seem to be there now." Artemis responded.

"What do you guys want with Anthony?" Superman asked, standing up.

"_Guys?" _Artemis repeated, sounding disgusted. "Now you insult us directly?" She kicked Superman in the jaw, filled with rage. Before Superman had even recuperated, he was struck again by Hippolyta.

"I am so done with this." Superman muttered. He released the brightest beam of heat vision he could muster, and blasted Hippolyta's bracelets. The glare blinded both her and Artemis.

Wasting no time, Superman immediately soared into the sky, using his x-ray vision and super hearing to look for Anthony.

_Meanwhile, in the healing springs of Themyscira…_

Claire stood and looked for a towel. She was still getting use to the entire no shame nudity thing. She wasn't use to seeing so many women so perfectly comfortable in their own skin. It wasn't that she didn't think she was beautiful, but to be honest she considered public nudity a bit much. Finally she found something to towel off with, and then put her clothes back on. And no sooner than she was dressed the sound of something snapping caught her attention. She turned around and looked to see a little red headed boy. His eyes teared up and he ran  
toward her.

"Anthony? ANTHONY!" She cried out as she caught him up in a hug. The boy  
buried his face in the nape of her neck and held on to her.

"My little boy... I was so scared for you." She said softly rubbing his  
back.

A red and blue blur appeared in the sky, and then an arrow shot it down. Superman crashed down into the water, an arrow lodged in his lower arm. She climbed out slowly and painfully ripped the projectile from his body, tossing it aside. "Hey Anthony." He said.

"You!" Volcana was immediately on the offensive. "What are you doing here?"

"I take it we know each other?" Superman sighed, doubting that was good thing.

Volcana let Anthony down and then unleashed a fireball upon Superman. Superman zoomed out the way with a frown. "Man! Does everybody around here want to kill me? I'd at least like to know why!"

Volcana prepared to attack again, but Anthony grabbed her. "Mom, stop. He's cool."

"What? Anthony, that's Superman, he-"

"I know that. But, he doesn't. He doesn't remember anything."

"What?"

"I went looking around while you were gone, and I kind of got stuck in this lab, and there was this dude who looked like Batman, but I don't think it was him, because he was like, trying to kill me and stuff. And then Superman saved me, but he got hit in the head with this electric thing, and we hit this teleporter thing, and then he saved me again, but he didn't even know who he was! He doesn't remember anything!" Anthony explained quickly, breathing heavily once he had finished.

"I don't know if I believe that." Volcana stared at Superman skeptically.

"Mom, how do you think we wound up here?"

"Wait, you're Anthony's mom?" Superman asked. "Anthony, you're mom was here the whole time and you never once mentioned it?"

"I didn't really know." Anthony slid his hands into his pockets. "Hey, speaking of which, where exactly are we?" He asked, looking up at his mother.

"Themyscira. The home of the Amazons, like Wonder Woman. And, well, me." Volcana answered.

"Weird. So why were the Amazons trying to kill me and Supy?" Anthony continued.

"Supy?" Superman raised an eyebrow.

"Superman did some really bad things to Wonder Woman a while back. The Amazons want revenge."

"That Hippopotamus lady seemed especially pissed." Superman pointed out.

"Hippolyta." Volcana corrected. "And she has every right to be. She's Wonder Woman's mother."

"So what exactly did I do to Wonder Woman that was so bad?"

"Beat her, raped her, blinded her, pretty much killed her." Volcana summed up.

"Oh." Superman took a step back, suddenly feeling guilty. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, that's not cool." Anthony shook his head at Superman.

Then the Amazons showed up again. Hippolyta and Artemis lead the charge, with thirty other warriors behind them. "Kill him!" Artemis shouted.

"Wait!" Superman held up his hands. "I- I give up."

"What?" Artemis scrunched her nose. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well, I figured out what I did." Superman shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"You honestly believe that a simple apology will tame our anger?" Hippolyta barked.

"No, I didn't think it would." Superman admitted. "I honestly don't remember what happened, but if what you say is true, then I'm glad for that."

"And why should we believe anything you say?" Hippolyta questioned.

"Because I didn't kill any of you, did I?" Superman spread his arms.

The Amazons looked at each other. "He _may _be telling the truth. But if so, that still doesn't erase what he did." Artemis reasoned.

"If you have no memory, then why did you come here?" Hippolyta asked.

"In all honesty it was kind of an accident. Apparently I was protecting Anthony, but… last thing I remember, I was here."

"So tell me, man of steel. Because you do not remember, do you think that excuses you for your crimes?" Hippolyta asked in a demanding tone.

"I honestly don't know." Superman responded after a long pause.

Then there was a rustling in the woods behind Superman, and a woman stepped out. Wonder Woman!

"Diana? I thought you were staying with the others for a while?" Volcana asked.

"I- I came back early when I found out he was here." Wonder Woman pointed to Superman.

"Diana, this man claims to have no memory of who he is or what he has done. By your opinion, what should be done about him?" Hippolyta inquired.

After a moment of building it up, Wonder Woman began to cry. "You know what he did to me. Such horrible things…" She shuddered. "Please, mother… please kill him."

"What? Diana-" Volcana started, but cut herself off, unsure if she really even wanted to argue.

"Are you sure Diana?" Artemis stepped forward, eager for the green light to make the kill.

"He beat me… violated me… tortured me…" Wonder Woman fell to her knees. "Yes I'm sure! Kill him painfully!"

"Hold on, I-" Superman was struck with a poison dart that put him to sleep before he could finish his sentence.

"We will take him to the courtyards, where we will give him a proper execution." Hippolyta decreed, and Amazons immediately began carrying Superman's body.

"Whoa, wait a sec, are you serious?" Anthony called out to the crowd.

"Hush Anthony." Volcana pulled him back. "Don't get yourself mixed up in this."

"Come, Diana. Let us prepare for the trial." Hippolyta moved over to her daughter. Immediately, Diana hugged her, sobbing. "Diana?"

"Sorry mother." Diana backed off. "I- I just really missed you."

"It has not been long, child. But I am honored nonetheless." Hippolyta smiled, and then began moving toward the palace.

"Longer than you know." Diana muttered, before following after her.

They were on their way to Superman's execution. Little did they know, the Wonder Woman among them, was not the one of their universe…

_A few hours later, in the lab beneath Hobbs Bay…_

Martha was screaming, and Lord Batman was running around trying to figure out how the hell you chance a diaper. It had been going on like that for a couple of hours now.

Johnny Quick walked passed Luthor's preservation pod. "The man knows how to build an army of clones and accelerate their growth, but he can't even figure out how to change a baby's diaper." Quick shook his head and chuckled.

"You don't enjoy working for him, do you?" Luthor asked as he floated in the pod, deciding that Quick was his only chance for an alliance.

"Not really. He's like Owlman was, except less quiet and more bossy." Johnny turned and looked at Luthor bobbing in the fluids of the pod. He laughed and tapped the glass. "You know, you remind me of a goldfish I had when I was a kid. At least until I flushed him down the crapper."

"Goldfish never live all that long." Luthor said, doing his best to be friendly.

"Oh no, he wasn't dead. I was just bored and decided to flush him down the toilet." Johnny Quick laughed loudly.

"Well, back on topic. You don't have to serve him, you know."

"Who? The goldfish?"

"No, Batman."

"Oh yeah, we were talking about him. I know I don't have to, but what else would I do in this world if I didn't? It's not like I'm wanted anywhere else."

"And you think you're wanted here?"

"Well more so than anywhere else."

"You don't even like it in this world, do you?"

"Not really. It's nice and all, I guess that's the problem. I look back on how my world was… the Crime Syndicate ruled everything with an iron fist. There was no happiness there. Only fear, and hate. That's the kind of world I got used to. And now it doesn't even exist anymore. The Crime Syndicate was overthrown, they all got the death penalty and what not. I can't go back there."

"You're the last. And you were picked up by the Justice Lords to replace their Flash."

"Yup."

"But that's not even what you are to them. You're more of a spare. You don't fit in with them. You don't belong with the Lords, and you sure as hell don't belong on this world. You're like a missing piece, one that can never find the whole."

"I know." Quick became sullen, and slumped down against the wall. "Thanks for bringing that up, Luthor."

"Sorry." Luthor lied through his teeth. "But I'm only looking out for you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it Johnny. The lords Batman, he's only keeping you around because he needs you. But once this army is ready, he won't need you anymore. He'll get rid of you."

"I, I don't think-"

"Oh come now Johnny, you know he will. You're a pawn, and pawns are always the ones you throw away, if you want to win the game."

"Maybe."

"Don't be a pawn, Johnny. You've been a pawn all your life. You don't have to be anymore."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Help me, Johnny. And in return I'll reward you with a seat of power. For the first time, you'll be on top."

"I'm listening. What do you want me to do?"

"Listen closely. There is an inactivated clone within the confines of this building. Take the pod and bring it to me, along with a small helmet-looking device down on the bottom floor."

"Why?"

"Just trust me. Get me those two items, and we'll be on our way to power."

"Sounds like kind of a big operation. I don't know if I can sneak that passed Bats."

"I wouldn't worry about there. I have a feeling we're about to receive the perfect distraction."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly there was an explosion from another room. Lord Batman burst into the open. "We have company!" He shouted. "A large group of heroes just showed up."

**Huge, mind blowing events coming up in the next chapter! Everything else has just been the build up, in the next chapter everything unfolds, and I promise you it's going to be incredible everybody! **


	23. Rebirth

Chapter Twenty-Three: Rebirth

Lord Batman activated a few clones to assist him and moved out to battle the heroes. In the midst of the distraction, Johnny Quick bolted in the other direction and retrieved a large cloning pod. He brought the pod into the room and wheeled it next to Luthor's preservation chamber.

Then he flashed down to the bottom floor and retrieved the strange helmet apparatus that Luthor had described. He ran the device back up to the room and tossed it into the preservation pod. "So, what exactly is this supposed to do?" Quick asked.

"Give me new life." Lex responded with a sinister smile. The madman then placed the helmet on his head and activated it. Instantly his eyes flashed into an iridescent blue, and then his consciousness left his body.

Lex laughed maniacally as his mind was transferred into Mayan, the inactive clone of Supergirl! For a moment there was silence. Johnny Quick looked into the preservation tank and saw Luthor's limp, mindless body. He began tapping the glass.

"Hey? Lex? Oh great, I turned him into a vegetable! Maybe I grabbed the wrong helmet?" Quick talked to himself frantically, when the other pod opened up… the cloning pod.

Inside was a completely nude blonde girl. "Whoa." Johnny gasped. Then the girl opened her eyes, and they shown with the same wicked intellect as Lex Luthor's. "Wait a minute…" Quick stammered. "Lex? Is that you?"

The girl grabbed Quick by the throat and raised him into the air. "Yes, it's me you dimwit." She said with a grin. "You see, the problem is… I'm getting older, and Superman _isn't_. My life was just about over, so I got a new one!" He then squeezed harder and crushed Johnny's neck, then threw him into a wall.

Lex Luthor examined his new, female body. "Pity, I was such a handsome man too. But this body will live quite a bit longer." He turned and faced his old body in the preservation chamber. "I can't have them finding that." Using his new powers, he unleashed a powerful blast of heat vision upon the tank, melting it and his old body into virtually nothing.

He listened with his super hearing and heard heavy footsteps approaching. "Time to go." Mayan/Luthor then flew upward and crashed through the ceiling, leaving the lab.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Lord Diana looked at the Amazons as they tied Superman to the posts. She stood there watching, picturing Ultraman. She remembered every single thing he did to her. She watched as they stripped the top of his suit from his body and then several whips were brought out. Each time they struck him she pictured Ultraman there. She watched as the whips brought blood. Each bite deeper and more harsh than the last. Finally they stopped.

"Superman... You shall endure the trails. Each punishment shall be worse than the last. This shall last for six days and at the end... At the end you shall die." Hippolyta announced.

"Mom... Mom this isn't right. This isn't right at all. We can't let them kill him. He... He saved me." Anthony said.

Volcana looked to Diana on the other side of the stadium, and an idea began to form in her head. "I know Anthony. And I think I'm starting to figure this mess out."

_Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor…_

Galatea had flown both herself and Dick back to the Manor to see that everyone was gone. She looked at him for a moment. A mischievous smirk crossed her lips. He looked at her as she walked toward him.

"You know... Every time we had a chance to do anything together things always worked against us." She said as she kissed him.

She pulled back and softly bit his lip a little.

"Master Dick... Master Bruce stated that you needed to check for his notes on the computer downstairs." Alfred said as he kept turned from where Galatea and Dick were at.

"Thanks Alfred." Dick grumbled.

Galatea looked at Dick and they walked down the stairs together. The moment they reached the computer Dick could see the two labs and looked at the one where Mayan was located.

"He wants us to help them." Dick said.

"What's going on exactly?" Galatea asked.

"Lord Batman has taken the device they need to stop the Cyborg, building an army, and from what I can tell Diana and Bruce wants to free the clones. Give them a chance at a normal life." Dick said.

"I'll do whatever I have to." Galatea said as she looked at the screen.

"Tea?" Dick asked.

"He's going to enslave people against their will. I've been there and I will not stand by and watch it happen to anyone else. Especially... Especially if they can find the love of their lives like I did." She said looking at Dick.

_Meanwhile, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean…_

"Damn." Cyborg groaned. "I can't even drown!" His body seemed to filter out all of the water that he took in. He stood on the sea floor, failing at his latest suicide attempt. "There has to be some way that I can die! Some weakness that this body has!" He looked through his metallic arm with his x-ray vision, and saw something odd. A LexCorp insignia.

"Of course…" He smiled. "LexCorp designed the Superman Drones. So they must know a way to destroy them." He then soared off, breaking the surface of the water within seconds, and headed toward the LexCorp office building.

_Meanwhile, back at SHIELD Headquarters…_

Jason arrived back at HQ, careful not to alert any other members to his presence. He snuck toward Denise's room and opened up the door, surprised to see that she wasn't there.

"Looking for someone, Todd?" Guardian's voice boomed from behind.

"Huh… I figured you'd pull something like this." Jason turned around. "You know Guardian, you don't even need the nanites. Cadmus already controls you."

"Nanites? What the hell are you talking about?"

"You used to have ideals. You used to be what I'd call a hero. Now, you're just Cadmus's lapdog."

"You want to talk to me about losing ideals, Todd? Look in a damn mirror!"

"No, actually I never changed all that much. I was never a good Robin. The whole hero thing was just wasn't my style."

"Enough small talk. I've been ordered to deliver you to Cadmus."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"Well if you don't come willing, I'll have to take you."

_ "Right." _

Suddenly Plastique came into the room, and immediately opened fire on Jason. Jason ducked behind a desk and pulled a gun out of the drawer, immediately shooting back, though he was vastly outgunned when it came to caliber.

The pointed bottom of Guardian's shield sliced through the desk and nearly took off Jason's head! "I doubt that's you in control… that means the nanites are active. Just wonderful." Jason muttered. He took a tazer out of his tool belt and stuck it to Guardian's shield. On the other side of the desk, Guardian's scream could be heard as he quickly let go of the golden weapon. Jason reached up and grabbed Guardian by the collar, pulling him over the desk.

Before Guardian could recuperate, Jason put a bullet in his head. "I never liked you much anyway." He said, peering over the desk and trying to find Plastique's location. He was greeted with her fist ramming into his face. With the nanites in effect, the punch blasted Jason through a wall. He tumbled out into the armory, and Plastique quickly followed. She grabbed a gatling gun and prepared to mow Jason down with bullets. Jason ducked behind a pillar for cover, but the ammunition was already beginning to wither the pillar away.

Jason grabbed a grenade off the wall in front of him and tossed it behind him. The ensuing blast caved in the floor, and they fell down into a secret room filled vials of shield, the drug.

Because of the nanites, Plastique was already recovering from the explosion. She stood up slowly, and lumbered toward Jason. The room was a perfect square, he had no where to run. And he was out of weapons.

Amanda Waller's voice came through Plastique's body. "Come on, Todd. You and I both see the opportunity here. You can win, if you use shield. Just once, use it, and win this fight."

"And as soon as I do, you'll take control of me. Not a chance." Jason barked, taking a step back.

"Then you'll die here."

"I won't be alone, Waller."

"What do you mean?"

"There's more than one use for shield, you know. My personal favorite… it's explosive." Jason reached into his bag and pulled out a book of matches.

"You wouldn't!"

"Not like I have anything to lose." Jason shrugged. "I might as well destroy you're little operation here, considering this is the production plant for your genetic crap."

"Jason! Stop it! We both know there's a better way!"

"Funny… I'm gonna go up in smoke, _almost _playing the hero." He lit a match, and tossed it behind him. The shield instantly reacted, and a massive explosion engulfed the entire base.

Soon, there was nothing more than a crater in its place. SHIELD had been destroyed.

Then, a few feet away from the crater, stood none other than… Jason Todd. "I win." He pulled out a small green device, the teleportation device used by Ambush Bug! SHIELD had taken him out on a hit several weeks ago. Jason had snatched the teleporter while in the armory, and used it at the last second to escape the explosion.

He had played up it up in front of Plastique, acting like he was going to die in the blast, because he wanted Waller convinced. If she thought he was dead, that would make phase two of his plan a lot easier. Phase two: Go to Cadmus, kill Amanda Waller, destroy all remaining traces of shield, deactivate all the nanites, and bust out Denise. Simple, right?

"Excuse me, Mr. Todd." An even-toned voice said behind.

"Huh?" Jason turned around, startled. The SHIELD benefactor was behind him, the masked man in the tux.

"What the hell… how did you survive the explosion?"

"I'm always a step ahead of you, Mr. Todd. It's my job. And I am afraid you have to die now." Then the man pulled off the overcoat to his tux, revealing several tubes interwoven in his arms, going into his veins. He turned a dial on his wrist, and the tubes began pumping highly concentrated doses of shield into his bloodstream. Right before Jason's eyes, the benefactor turned into a hulking monster!

Jason looked up at him and sighed. "Oh shit."

_Meanwhile, in the main temple on Themyscira…_

Lord Diana looked at her reflection in the mirror, amazed to be back home. Even if it wasn't technically her home, it still was, in a way. It was complicated.

"Admiring yourself?" A cynical voice said from behind. Lord Diana turned to see Volcana.

"Oh! Vol- uh, Claire. Hi."

"So that was quite a change in attitude, suddenly begging for Superman to be killed." Volcana's eyes narrowed.

"Well, you don't know the things he did to me… you don't know what I went through."

"Yeah, I guess your right." Volcana looked off to the left. "I remember you crying about it on your wedding day."

_Wedding day? _Lord Diana frowned. The Wonder Woman here was married?

"It was a beautiful ceremony, you know. I'm happy for you." Volcana continued.

Um, yes. Thank you Claire."

"The groom looked so handsome too… Bruce cleans up nice."

"Yeah, I do love Bruce." Lord Diana's eyes brightened.

"So how are the kids?"

_Kids? There are kids? _Lord Diana was really hoping that Claire wouldn't ask about names. "Oh, they're doing fine."

"Ok, that's all I needed to hear." Volcana grinned, and stared the woman in the eyes. "Lord, Diana."

"What- um, what are you talking about Claire?"

"Diana isn't married, and she doesn't have kids."

"Oh, damn it." Lord Diana lowered her head. "I guess I have to kill you now."

"I have a better idea." Suddenly Volcana blasted Lord Diana with a wave of flame. Diana burst through and kicked Volcana through the ceiling. The two women proceeded to fight outside, until more Amazons jumped in to intervene. But they were fighting against Volcana!

"You don't understand! She's not who you think she is!" Volcana screamed.

"Lies! She's a traitor, she's working with Superman!" Lord Diana pointed to Claire accusingly.

Hippolyta stepped forward, and examined Lord Diana carefully.

"Ask her a question about herself. A difficult one, though. I bet you she'll get it wrong!" Volcana persisted.

"Pathetic. Shall we kill the traitor now?" Artemis raised her sword.

"Wait a moment Artemis. I want to test Claire's theory." Hippolyta looked to Diana. "When you came here after waking up in the fortress of solitude… who was with you?"

Lord Diana backed up a moment, uncertain. She had no idea what the answer was. After fumbling around for a few seconds, she grimaced. "To hell with this!" She shouted, pushing a button on a small remote.

Suddenly, four clones descended onto the island, landing in a perfect line behind Lord Diana. "If you won't get the job done," Lord Diana started, "Then they will!"

_Meanwhile, in Hobbs Bay, not far from the Justice Lord's lab…_

Lex Luthor's mind walked in Mayan's body. Mayan was still completely naked as Luthor approached a group of guys standing around a truck.

"Whoa!" They all exclaimed.

"Hey baby, you lost or something?" One of the guys walked up to her. In a flash, Luthor/Mayan grabbed the guy by the throat and lifted him into the air. "Get lost, loser." She threw him into a brick wall. "I need the truck. Now."

"No!" Another guy shouted, taking a step toward her. Luthor fired heat vision at the guy's feet, and he jumped backward screaming. "Ok! Ok, ok, take the truck!" He ran off.

His buddy began to follow. "You! Wait!" Luthor/Mayan demanded.

"W-What?" He stammered.

"Give me your pants. And your jacket."

"Are you serious?"

"Now!"

"Alright, whatever you say!" The guy quickly stripped off his pants and jacket, and threw her the clothing.

After getting dressed in the obviously too-large clothes, Luthor, in his new female body, climbed into the truck and turned the key in the ignition.

"It's time for Mayan to make an appearance…" He grinned wickedly. "As Lex Luthor's long lost daughter. And heir to his entire company."

**Ok, so the chapter wasn't quite as much of a blowout as I let on before… but I was excited :P**


	24. Facing Demons

Chapter Twenty-Four: Facing Demons

Hope sorted tiredly through the files on her desk, working hard to manage LexCorp, when the door to her office swung open.

A beautiful blonde girl walked in, probably in her early to mid twenties. There was a serious, almost malicious look on her face. She was escorted by two guards and an attorney who was often hired by LexCorp.

"Hello?" Hope asked.

"Ms. Thompson, we need to talk." The attorney said.

"I'm afraid now isn't a good time. I'm up to my neck with work and-"

"That work is no longer yours." The girl said flatly.

"Excuse me?"

"Mrs. Thompson," The attorney started, "This young woman here is Mayan Luthor. She is Lex Luthor's daughter."

"What? I'm afraid that's impossible, I worked for Luthor for nearly two decades, and never heard anything about a daughter." Hope's eyes narrowed.

"My mother kept me a secret from him for most of my life." Mayan sighed.

"Can't blame her." Hope muttered, thinking back to Lex's cruelty. "Still, what does that have to do with my work?"

"Stryker's Island submitted Lex Luthor's death certificate this morning." The attorney continued.

"What?" Hope gasped.

"Yes, it seems his last venture left Mr. Luthor quite ill. He passed away yesterday afternoon."

"He will be missed." Hope lied. "Is that all?"

"No, not even close, I'm afraid." The attorney said, pulling out a file. "You see, it turns out this company is no longer yours, Mrs. Thompson. Mayan Luthor is the rightful heir to LexCorp industries."

"Huh? But-" Hope began to protest when a document was placed in front of her.

"You see, Mrs. Thompson, Lex Luthor was well aware that he was dying. So the night before his death, he worked out this legal document stating that he wanted his daughter to inherit the company, and his entire fortune." The attorney explained.

"You- you're sure about all this?" Hope was shocked.

"A DNA test was taken this morning, proving that Mayan is indeed the daughter of Mr. Luthor."

Mayan, or Lex Luthor, still using Mayan's body, grinned. Lex was getting his company back, and no one even knew it was him. Just like Superboy, half of Mayan's DNA belonged to Luthor, while in this case the other half belonged to Supergirl. That half that was Luthor's had been more than enough to fool the DNA test.

"I received this letter from my father this morning." Mayan/Lex said, pulling out a folded piece of paper. Mayan unfolded the piece of paper to and handed it to Hope. "The letter plainly tells his entire will. Everything he owned goes to me."

"You'll find that the letter perfectly matches Mr. Luthor's handwriting and sentence structure." The attorney added.

Mayan/Lex grinned again. Since it was actually Luthor's mind in the girl's body, it had been an extremely simple task to make the letter seem like it had come from Lex Luthor. Because, well, it did. He had just written it in a different body.

"I can't believe this." Hope sighed, handing the letter back to Mayan. Hope had really begun to enjoy running the company, and now that was all gone.

"Don't worry, Ms. Thompson." Mayan smiled. "You aren't out of work. I'll need an assistant, just like my father did."

_"Wonderful." _Hope groaned. Not only had she just lost the company, now she was going back to her old hated job working for Luthor's daughter. This was quickly turning into a horrible day. "Are you sure you can handle the business, Ms. Luthor?" Hope asked Mayan. "After all, it is a difficult job and-"

"I think you will find I'm more than capable." Mayan interrupted. "I would like to begin immediately."

"Oh. Ok." Hope sighed and stepped away from the desk.

"That will be all." Mayan shooed away the attorney and the two guards.

"Anything I can do to help get you started, Ms. Luthor?" Hope asked.

"Get me the files on all of LexCorp's unfinished experiments. I wish to see what my father started. Oh, and cancel all charity donations."

"Are you sure?" Hope asked in surprise.

"Yes. We can't afford to simply give our money away, you understand. I was checking the company profits, and since you took over LexCorp isn't brining in anywhere near as much income as when my father was in charge. I wish to correct that immediately."

_"That's because your father was a selfish bastard, you little bitch." _Hope thought, but didn't dare saying out loud except for, "Will that be all, Ms. Luthor?"

"For now, yes. Why are you still here? Get going." Mayan commanded, and Hope left the room sullenly. Mayan watched her lustily on the way out. "Hmm. I liked women before, I shouldn't change that now. After all, I _am _still Lex Luthor, even if I am trapped in this female body." Mayan/Luthor decided before turning to the desk and taking a seat.

Suddenly the large window behind her exploded into millions of tiny shards, and there was a thundering crash.

"What the hell?" Mayan/Lex jumped back and saw a hulking, red metal beast glaring.

"Where's Luthor?" Cyborg growled.

"I'm Luthor." Mayan quickly reclaimed calmness, and tried hard to keep it.

"Not the one I'm looking for." Cyborg backhanded Mayan into a wall and then began scanning the area with his x-ray vision, but found that the entire place was reinforced with lead.

Mayan/Lex stood and began to laugh. "Not a scratch!" Lex exclaimed, loving the power of Mayan's body.

The madman in the cloned Kryptonian body punched Cyborg back out the window. "What's your business here?"

"I just want to die." Cyborg said grimly.

"That can be arranged." Mayan/Lex began to grow curious when he started to recognize aspects of Cyborg. Mayan scanned over Cyborg with x-ray vision, and saw the LexCorp insignia on the inside of his forearm. "Interesting. Let me guess, you keep adapting to everything?"

"Yeah. That's the story in a nutshell."

"Then I think we can reach an agreement." Mayan/Lex smiled. "I have a proposal for you… one that could benefit both of us greatly."

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

The clones resembled Lord Diana, and had the power of Ultraman. And they mowed down the Amazons with relative ease. The Amazons were managing to keep the clones at the bay, but barely.

Lord Diana plowed flew and went straight for Superman. She walked toward him, leaned down to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Kal... You might not be the Kal from my world, but you did the same as he did. Only our Kal didn't kill me... No he raped me not twelve steps from that group of trees over there. He then beat the living hell out of me because I defied him on taking over Themyscira. I never hated him more than that moment. This is for everything... Everything he did to me." She said as she started to break his neck when a blast of fire hit her.

"You stupid, stupid girl! Don't you understand? He deserves to die! What he did to me! What he took from me! I was pregnant for Hera's sake! Bruce and I... We... We where having a child... Then this bastard!" She turned hotly toward him.

"That was your Superman and you know it." Claire said.

"He did the same to this world's Diana. The same damn thing!" She exclaimed. 

"I know you don't have a lot of mercy, but think about this. This isn't the same person. You know it isn't. He's not even fighting back right now. What kind of warrior does that make you?" Claire asked.

"He killed your son in our universe... You know that? He killed him in front of you. He had already broken you down before he did it. You traded your life, your body, everything to him to save your son and he still killed him. You lost your mind after that. You attempted to kill him and he ripped you in half. Still think that he deserves to live?" Lord Diana asked.

"Only because this isn't the same one." Claire answered.

"He'll turn back. Watch if we let him live he will turn back. It doesn't matter if it is my love that wants him dead and out of the way. I'm actually attempting to do something good for this world. I'm attempting to kill someone who will kill, disfigure, and torture for the fun of it. He'll seize control and take the world to hell." Lord Diana said.

"We have no way of knowing that." Claire stated.

The clones began to act sluggish. At first they seemed completely fine, but  
slowly their actions slowed and they looked around confused.

"Diana, even if you don't belong on this Earth you know our code. You know  
that we honor love, loyalty, and justice above all else. This doesn't belong  
to our code child." Phillipus said.

Lord Diana shook her head. Tears streaming down her face. She sat down and  
drew her knees up to her chest.

"Hera had shown me it was a little girl… I was going to have a little girl… She was stolen from me…" She whimpered.

"The justice against the one that did this to you… was it already carried out?" She asked.

"An insane creature beat him to death…" She said silently.

"Then justice was performed. Let go of the hate child." Phillipus said as she touched Lord Diana's shoulders.

"I'm sorry…" Lord Diana said as she hugged herself to Phillipus' shoulder and cried. "I'm sorry, but I can't." Then she swung her arm and smacked the surprised Phillipus, sending her rolling across the ground.

Lord Diana got to her feet quickly, to see that Hippolyta had already let Superman loose. "Do what you must." Hippolyta said reluctantly.

"Thank you." Superman stepped forward.

Lord Diana called the four clones to her side. "Kill him." She ordered. All four clones immediately blasted beams of heat vision straight at Superman's chest. Superman held up his arms to protect himself, but blood sprayed as raw heat burned through his wrists. Superman swept around with super speed and smacked one of the clones into the temple. Another clone kicked him in the jaw and sent him spiraling into the air.

A third came in from behind and wrapped her arms around Superman's neck, beginning to choke him to death. The other three floated up and shot heat vision into his exposed chest, causing him to try and scream, which was immediately halted by the choking. Now it was just a matter of which would kill him first, the lasers or the breaking of his neck and the lack of oxygen. His money was on the lasers.

Then a lasso wrapped around the choking clone's neck, and she was jerked down into the ground. Hippolyta had joined the battle!

Superman immediately flew downward and flash-froze one clone with his breath, before punching it and shattering it. The two other clones in the air started pulverizing the man of steel with a flurry of punches and kicks, but he met their strikes with equally powerful blows.

The clone that had caught by Hippolyta prepared to attack the woman, when a sword pierced its chest. Artemis had come in from the back with the same sword she had used to stab Superman when they captured him.

This clone fell limply the ground. The two in the air grabbed Superman and drove him head first into the ground, causing a mini earthquake! Superman got to his feet in a daze before being punched in the nose, which sent him flying into a tree.

Volcana then rushed up and grabbed one of the clones by the throat, billowing as much heat into it as she could possibly generate. Soon she had created a fire hotter than the sun, and the clone disintegrated.

The final clone continued after Superman, but with it being just one-on-one now he pounded it into the ground within a few minutes.

Then a lasso wound around Superman's neck, and he was pulled straight into a punch from Lord Diana. She stepped on Superman's chest and started to press harder, when he fired heat vision straight into her eyes. She stumbled back, her vision immediately going dark.

Superman wrapped both hands around her neck and raised her into the air, beginning to crush. She coughed up blood as he squeezed harder and harder, murder in his eyes.

"Stop it! Superman! Quit!" Anthony screamed, running over to the scene.

"Why? Look around!" Superman stared at all the Amazons who had been killed by the clone's attack; there were at least twenty of them slain. "Look at what she's done… to all these innocent people! Look at it real well, and tell me she deserves to live!"

"Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. But that's not your choice to make." Anthony pleaded. "If you kill her, you'll be just like her."

"I – I have to!" Superman insisted, but his grip did loosen a little.

_At the same moment, above the area where this was all taking place…_

Ares had been watching the scene unfold, and so far was satisfied by the results. This could be the perfect chance to destroy the Amazons, if things played out right. But Ares frowned when he saw Superman's grip loosen.

"No, no, no. We can't have that." Ares said to himself. "Thinking of showing mercy, are you? Let's see how you feel about that when you get your memories back." Ares grinned wickedly and waved his hand.

_Back on the ground a moment later…_

Superman was almost going to let Lord Diana go, when suddenly a painful jolt surged through his brain. He started to see a series of images, hundreds, no thousands of images. His memories! They were all burning their way into his mind, going back to where they once were. Superman was beginning to remember everything.

Within moments his memory had been restored… he remembered his days as a hero, and as a villain. He remembered every life he had ever taken, all the blood he had spilled. And he remembered loving it.

Superman tightened his grip again, a cruel smile finding its way onto his lips. But then he thought about the more recent events, what had happened after he lost his memory… he remembered the guilt, and it was still there. Growing stronger and stronger, his guilt began to swallow him up.

He thought back to all the lives he had saved, all the people he had helped. And he dropped Lord Diana. Slowly, Superman began to stagger backward, tears streaming down his face.

"You did the right thing." Anthony smiled.

"Yeah." Superman muttered, looking up at the sky. "And now I have to do it again." He started to fly off, determined to try and make things right, when he heard the voice of Ares in his head.

"No! This is not how it was supposed to be! You think you can change your destiny? Lets see you face it!" Suddenly a dark storm cloud descended, falling right in front of Superman.

The cloud began to swirl, faster and faster. Slowly, it started to change. The cloud began resembling a person!

It was now forming hands, then fingers, then facial features. Then the cloud started to turn into flesh. Pale, ashy gray flesh. The figure wore a costume resembling Superman's, except that it was jet black with a red symbol. The figure's eyes also glowed red.

"Hello… Clark." It said, its voice cold and malevolent.

"Wh- what are you…?" The real Superman backed away.

"I'm you… the _real _you. I was free for a while, but now you're locking me up again. And I refuse to go back."

_Meanwhile, in the Justice Lord's base…_

The battle had gone on for several hours, but once Dick and Galatea had arrived, the tide began to turn. Finally, after six hours of fighting, the heroes managed to subdue all of the active clones.

"Lord Batman escaped." Question pointed out immediately.

"Yeah, but look at this." Flash called, and everyone walked over to see Johnny Quick, lying dead against a wall, his neck bent on an unnatural angle.

"What killed him?" Huntress asked.

"A broken neck." Question stated.

"That's not what I meant, Q." She punched him in the shoulder. "Who broke his neck?"

"Not sure. I don't think it was the Lord's Batman, though. He escaped in the other direction." Batman stated.

"I got the device." J'onn's voice broke in. Everyone looked over, and J'onn held up the temporal alteration device.

"Good. We need that to defeat Cyborg, if he shows up again." Batman nodded, taking the device.

"Hey everybody… check this out." Dick yelled from the other room. The group ran quickly to where Dick was, to see that he was staring at a television screen. The news was saying something about LexCorp.

"Dick, nobody cares to hear how great Hope's doing with the company." Green Arrow sighed.

"That's kind of the point. It says here LexCorp is under new ownership." Dick began. "By Lex Luthor's daughter."

"What?" Suddenly people were interested. But the real shock was when they showed a picture of Mayan Luthor.

"She look familiar?" Dick stated. Everyone looked to Supergirl.

"Oh my God… she looks so much like me." Supergirl stared at the screen.

"And Mayan was the name of the Supergirl clone that was created here." Batman added.

"But the clone was never activated." Wally pointed out.

"It's also not here." J'onn stated.

"Maybe Lord Batman activated it?" Diana suggested.

"I don't think so." Question shook his head. "But I do think I have an idea of what killed Johnny Quick."


	25. Path to Redemption

Chapter Twenty Five: Path to Redemption

The clones stood near Diana and each of them tried to get a grasp on what was happening. While Lord Batman had given them tremendous amounts of data on fighting abilities, battle strategies, and of course the desire to be loyal he didn't build on their personalities or mental ages. These 'girls' were exactly that. They where frightened girls curious about who they were with, what was going to happen to them, and uncertain of what they are suppose to do. Galatea watched them and moved toward one. She flinched back fearing what the strange blond headed woman might want.

"_Shhhh_... Don't be afraid." Galatea said.

"What... What's going to happen to us." The first one said.

"Nothing will happen. What's your name?" Galatea asked the first clone that had spoken to Diana and now was speaking to her.

"I... I don't know... I don't have one. None of us do." She said looking toward the floor.

The sound of thunder outside frightened the clone and she almost cowered. Galatea _shhhed_ her again and the clone seemed to respond almost as a young child would to being comforted.

"What's that?" The clone asked.

"That's just thunder. It's getting ready to storm outside." Galatea said.

"Storm? I like that... It sounds pretty. Stormy... I like stormy." The clone said.

"Do you want that to be your name?" Galatea asked.

"Yes." Stormy said.

"Alright Stormy. Look we need to talk to the others. Do you know anything that Lord Batman might be trying to do?" Galatea asked her.

"Father... Father wants to destroy all of you, but you're not evil. He makes us think that you're all bad. That we have to... ummm... delete you all." Stormy said.

Sounds like your father is wrong huh?" Galatea asked.

"Yeah, cause your nice." Stormy said as she sat down.

"look... There's a green guy that's coming. I've seen him a couple of times and he might look kind of strange, but he's really nice. He's going to ask if he can peek inside of you head. Trust me he won't do anything to hurt you. But he will try to see what all your father might have put there." Galatea said.

"Okay." Stormy replied.

She walked toward Dick and kissed his cheek.

"They won't fight us. It's really kind of sad none of them seem to have their minds aged more than maybe eight years old." Galatea said.

"Crap... They won't be able to function out in the real world." Dick said.

"I know... Maybe they can go to Themyscira or whatever that place is that Diana came from. I'm sure that her people would welcome them." Galatea said.

"Maybe, but look how innocent they are. They are completely terrified right now and there isn't any reason for them to be." Dick said.

"No reason? Dick their entire world has been turned upside down. They know that they are different, and they don't know why. The only person who has been imprinted as a parent left them behind. These girls... These girls have every reason to be terrified." Galatea said as she leaned his shoulder and watched the girls with a sad expression.

_Meanwhile, inside Denise's Hallucination…_

"Hello Dear." A small voice said.

"No... Toby you're dead. I killed you!" She shouted.

"Of course you did. I still don't know why... I loved you didn't I?" a half rotted corpse said as he neared her and placed his hand on her.

"Take your hand off of me!" She screamed.

"Why? Is it because you like him touching you more?" Toby asked as he pointed to a beaten Jason Todd.

"Let him go! Please!" She cried out.

"You care for him?" Toby asked

"No... No I can't... I can't love him... I can't love a man at all. I can't love anyone since..." She started until a man walked toward them.

"Since living in my house isn't that right girl?" an old scarred man said as he stepped forward.

"No! GET AWAY!" She screamed.

"That's right... Scream for me girl. Scream for me. You screamed for your father, for your mother, but they where dead weren't they?" The man said.

"No..." She said.

"Yes... I killed them in their sleep. Then I took your father's place. It was perfect. I got the house, the car, and a nice piece of ass." He said as he walked toward her and brought her head down toward him in a rough disgusting kiss.

"Get back!" She screamed. "Please... Please don't..." She began whimpering.

"Weak girl... You always were weak." He said as he ripped her down from the table and slammed her to the floor.

"No... I don't want to!" She screamed. "I SAID NO!" She shouted and shoved the man back.

(Cadmus - Near the entrance.)

Denise curled into a ball as the nightmarish visions continued to confront her. Somehow she had managed from loosing her mind, but it was so hard... 

Then a new voice began to ring in her ears. "Hello, Ms. La'Sure."

"What the hell…?" Denise clutched her head, confused.

"You know me, Ms. La'Sure. My name… is Lex Luthor."

"What? But how are you-" Suddenly her eyes opened wide. "The nanites!"

"That's right, Ms. La'Sure. The nanites are, after all, of my own design. It isn't hard to communicate through them."

"What do you want Luthor?"

"To help. In a few minutes, my guess is that they'll hit you with another dose of Fear Gas. You don't want that. My nanites can defeat the toxin rather easily… and, they can give you ability to walk again."

"What's the catch?" She demanded.

"I simply need your assistance."

"Assistance for what?"

"You'll just pick up a few items for me. And in return, I'll make all your problems go away."

"I'm listening."

_Meanwhile, at the ruins of the SHIELD Headquarters…_

The pumped-up Cadmus agent struck Jason into a chunk of rubble. Jason hunched over as he felt his ribs bruise. The agent was just like Bane, except he was getting more strength from smaller doses of his drug, and the effects were lasting longer.

The agent charged at Jason again. Jason rolled out of the way and jammed his knife into the dial on the agent's wrist. The device began to go haywire, pumping dangerous amounts of shield into the agent's bloodstream!

Soon the agent's chest exploded, his organs spraying out. "Sick…" Jason muttered, watching the gore absently. He leaned down and pulled out the agent's PDA, and started going through the address book.

Soon he was able to determine the location of the main Cadmus headquarters. "When I get there Waller…" Jason crushed the PDA in his hand, "You're dead."

_Meanwhile, in the Suicide Slums…_

Lord Batman ducked into an alleyway when he heard police sirens. He had to remain off the radar, at least for now. Especially with Johnny Quick and Lord Diana out of the picture… he would have to watch his step.

"They destroyed everything I had worked for…" Lord Batman muttered. "Now I have to start from scratch again, work my way from the ground up. And now I don't have the temporal device to speed up the process." He punched a hole in a brick wall. "It'll take months, maybe years to get an operation going again!"

Suddenly a large shadow passed over him. "What the-" Lord Batman leapt out of the way as the Cyborg crashed down, creating a seismic event upon landing!

"More powerful than a locomotive, and just as subtle." Lord Batman groaned, drawing a set of baterangs behind his back. "What are you supposed to be?"

"Wish I knew." Cyborg responded evenly. He fired a beam of heat vision, which the Lord Batman barely managed to avoid. He then hurled the baterangs toward the menace, but he simply absorbed them into his body.

"I think you've got the wrong guy. You're probably looking for the other Batman."

"You're the Justice Lord one, right?" Cyborg swung a punch.

Lord Batman ducked and jammed a concussion bomb onto his stomach, setting it off and blasting Cyborg back. "You tell me." He prepared to land what would have been a lethal blow on the human part of Cyborg's face!

Cyborg blew him back with a wave of super breath. "Yeah, you're the one I'm looking for. Or rather, the one Luthor's looking for."

"Luthor?" Lord Batman raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the chick Luthor. Think he/she's going by the name Mayan."

"Mayan…" Lord Batman remembered the inactive clone in the lab. "That deranged genius." The villain realized what Lex Luthor had done, and grinned. "So what the hell does he want with me?"

"Don't know, don't care. I just bring you to him, that's my end of the deal." Cyborg took advantage of the split second that Lord Batman let down his guard. The mechanical monster zoomed over in a flash and struck the evil dark knight down, striking him again in the head for good measure.

Cyborg slung Lord Batman over his shoulder, and took off, sailing toward LuthorCorp Towers. He had but one thing on his mind… his own death.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Superman plummeted into the ground, pummeled by the dark version of himself.

"You're so weak." The dark Superman smiled.

Superman rose to his feet slowly, blood dripping from his mouth where he had been punched. The dark Superman was strong, there was no denying that. "I – I can't believe…" Superman staggered forth. "I can't believe I let you grow so powerful."

"You didn't have a choice in the matter. Like I said, I'm the _real _you. You just don't know it yet." The dark Superman blasted Superman to the ground again with a wave of heat vision. He was struck by a series of arrows, but quickly blew the rest off course with super-breath, before freezing half the attacking Amazons!

"No!" Superman rushed in and struck the dark Superman, but this had little effect.

"Don't pretend to feel sorry for them." The dark Superman twisted his good counterpart's wrist painfully. "When you crush an ant, do you feel remorse? No. Because you know that you are the superior being! It's the same thing now! We are superior to them in every single way! So don't stand there and pretend to feel remorse when we freeze one of them, scorch one of them, break one of them. They're nothing but ants beneath our feet."

"There is no _we_!" Superman yelled, punching the evil counterpart in the jaw. Again, there was little effect.

"No, there is only me." The dark Superman laughed, hurling the man of steel into the forest and causing him to plow through a row of trees.

"Superman!" Anthony rushed over to him. "Come on! Get up!"

"He's- he's stronger than me…" Superman sighed. "I can't seem to hurt him."

"He's supposed to be like, a reflection of your right? He's only strong because you're making him strong!"

"Anthony, run."

"No, you need to hear me out. He's part of you, you know? The bad part. You let him get strong, you know, when you were bad. But he's still feeding off of all that bad stuff, so-"

"Anthony you have to run, now!"

A massive boulder flew down and nearly crushed the child. Superman leapt in the way and held it back. The dark Superman punched through the boulder and caught Superman in the chest, sending him rolling.

"Protective of the little monkey, are we?" The dark Superman looked to Anthony sinisterly, heat vision glowering in his eyes.

"Get – away – from him!" Superman tackled the dark creature so fast that he broke the sound barrier, and rammed the villain into a mountain, before beginning to pummel his head with a series of punches.

"That's right Superman! Good emotions weaken him! So, uh, keep loving me!" Anthony cheered.

The dark Superman was finally taking some damage. He flung his legs up and kicked Superman off of him, before punching the man of steel in the throat. Superman coughed painfully, but doubled back with an uppercut that blasted the dark Superman into the air.

"Good emotions…" He remembered Lois, particularly their first kiss. "That's pretty damn good." Superman smiled and flew upward with both fists raised, and rammed into the dark Superman. He then spun back and kicked the dark Superman in the face, sending him spiraling.

Superman zoomed in from behind with his fists balled together, and struck the evil one in the face, rocketing him down into the mountainside. He was sure to contain himself during the fight, however. Anger would only fuel the dark Superman more.

They both fired waves of heat vision, and the two beams colliding, burning against each other. Superman remembered his friends, he remembered everything good about his life. His heat vision quickly won out, plowing through and sawing the arm off of the dark Superman!

Superman then flew down and drove both his fists through the dark Superman's chest and out his back!

"Ah! How?" The dark Superman coughed, hacking up purple blood.

"I can't deny that you exist… you always have existed, somewhere inside of me." Superman pulled his arms out. "But that doesn't mean that you're who I am." Superman punched the evil one down. "Superman can be a lot of things. But I'm not Superman… I am Clark Kent. Kansas farm boy, raised on good virtues and lots of apple pie. And I am more powerful, than you!" Superman stomped the evil being's head in, and the dark Superman disintegrated into nothing.

Superman turned around and saw that Amazons were already gathering up. Anthony and Claire were in the front, smiling warmly. Hippolyta stepped forward.

"Lady Hippolyta." Superman acknowledged. "If you still feel I should be punished, than so be it."

"Yes." Hippolyta said carefully. "The monster who tortured my daughter should undoubtedly be punished. And… I believe he just was." Hippolyta looked to where the dark Superman had died. "He is the one that we chose to punish. Justice has now been delivered." She looked to Superman. "You are welcome to stay the night, if you wish. But no longer than that."

"Thank you." Superman nodded gratefully. "But there is something I have to do. I really need to get back to man's world… I have to try and make things right." Suddenly his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Not before a feast." Hippolyta smiled. "It is the least I can do. After all, you have punished the beast which abused my daughter. I owe you a meal."

"I would appreciate that." Superman smiled.

"What exactly do you plan to do once you leave?" Volcana asked once the crowd began to thin.

"Exactly what I said. I plan to make things right… no matter what it takes."

**This update took forever, I know. I've had trouble finding motivation to work on this story since I started my other fic, Breaking Free. But I promise that I'll update this at least twice a week for the remainder of the story, no exceptions!**

**Only a couple more chapters left before Redemption comes to a close, so keep reading and reviewing! **


	26. The End Begins

Chapter Twenty-Six: The End Begins

Being in Metropolis wasn't high on Bruce's list of things to do, but he needed to find something to nail 'Mayan' Luthor with. So far everything he had checked out seemed to be legitimate, which was making it a pain in the ass to play polite when Luthor visited the exposition and began checking out the competition. Of course 'Mayan' took a few moments to take in the beauty of Wayne Enterprise's ambassador. 'Mayan' Luthor licked her upper lip for a moment before walking past Diana and collecting 'consumer' data on  
the up and coming Wayne Tech 'toys' soon to be out on the market.

"Brucie... I have to say that this is quite a show. Of course my father would have outdone it. Did you happen to see the 2008 Luthor Tech show? I reviewed it on video and to be honest... It blew this out of the water, but still fantastic show Brucie. You don't mind being called Brucie do you? Of course not... Tell me Brucie... What would a lady billionaire have to do to get you to consider going into business with Luthor Corp?" 'Mayan' Luthor asked sweetly.

"Ms Luthor, I'm flattered, but my family's company needs to stay in my family." He said

"That seems to be a problem isn't it? I mean it's just you all alone in 'wittle' old Gotham... Why an up and coming hot young thing like me could easily fit on your arm and it could make us both quite a bit of money." Luthor said as she gave Bruce a 'dazzling' smile.

"It's a kind offer, but I must decline." Bruce said.

"Have it your way Brucie... Unlike you I know my father's business backwards  
and forwards. I'll own Wayne tech in a few years anyway... I just thought that you might want to have a little fun beforehand." She said as she walked away.

_A while later, in the Presidential Suite in Hilton…_

Diana looked at Bruce as he came out of the shower. The moment they left the tech show he had insisted on a shower to wash off the feeling of having 'Lex' Luthor hit on him. She smiled softly as he looked at her.

"It wasn't funny." Bruce said.

"Of course not." Diana replied trying hard not to laugh.

"I had to play the part Princess..." he said as he watched her lose the battle against her outburst of laughter.

"I'm sorry Bruce... But that was just so funny!" She said, trying to regain her composure.

He looked at her and shook his head. Within seconds he dressed and walked toward her. She smiled at him and leaned in as they kissed. After a moment she pulled back and then looked at him.

"What all did you learn from your rummaging through Lex's files earlier?" She asked.

"That 'Mayan' Luthor has cut all donations to any kind of charity; she has begun laying off employees here in the states and is getting a good portion of the work done in China through various sweatshops. None of it is illegal, but not exactly moral either. But any trace of any kind of illegal actions isn't on her computer at Luthor Corp." Bruce said.

"What about the message from Cadmus?" Diana asked.

"I've reviewed it... What ever happened didn't cripple them, but for Waller to notify me of anything means it can't be good." Bruce said.

_24 Hours Earlier, at Cadmus…_

Denise could feel her toes wiggle and smiled. She screamed like she was terrified, but the gas was little more than an annoyance now. She then looked to see several explosions going off and knew that Jason had come to save her. She hated to do this in a way. She really liked him, and to be honest Jason had been the absolute best bed buddy she had ever had. Still she couldn't allow herself to love a man, and Jason no matter how much talent, ambition, or anything else, would always be a man.

"Mr. Todd, I suggest that you stop for a moment and consider the options. Take the enhancement shot and all will be forgiven." Waller said.

"That's not happening. Let Denise go, and I promise that I won't choke the life out of that fat neck of yours." Jason said.

"We can't release Ms. La'Sure until we are certain that both you and her will be completely under our control. We don't need another lunatic in tights running around." Amanda Waller said.

"Lady... You've got three minutes." Jason threatened before a shot rang out and Jason stepped forward his face looking unsure. He looked at the blood on his hand and then turned to see a familiar face behind him.

"Hmmmm..." Deathstroke said as his white lens over his functioning eye narrowed.

"Mr. Wilson, if you will be so kind." Amanda Waller said.

"Let's get this over with." Deathstroke said as he kicked Jason hard in the throat knocking him back toward Denise.

Jason stumbled, struggling to breath, when another bullet bore into his leg. Then another in the knee. Two more in the other leg. Jason made every attempt to get to his feet, but the pain was unreal.

Deathstroke delivered a punishing blow to Jason's face, before pulling his machete out of its sleeve. "This remind you of anything, kid? A certain incident with the Joker, perhaps?"

"That… was a long time ago." Jason grumbled. "But I was never the type to move on."

"That I can relate to." Deathstroke raised the blade, and looked to Waller for permission to kill. She nodded. Deathstroke brought the machete down, and impaled Jason Todd. The blade went in through his back, and appeared out of the front, covered in blood. Jason immediately began going numb, feeling himself slip into the cold embrace of death.

Jason forced himself onto his knees, and clasped the blade protruding from his stomach.

"That blade comes out, and you bleed to death in no time." Deathstroke began pulling the machete out through Jason's back. Jason struggled to hold it in place, but found it impossible to gather his strength.

Then two more hands joined his, and began fighting to keep Deathstroke from removing the weapon. Denise's hands!

"D- Denise…" Jason coughed.

"Don't die." She insisted. "Jason you can't die…" She raised a hypodermic needle, filled with the genetic enhancement. Filled with the nanites.

Jason tried to speak, but could not. Instead he shook his head to say 'no.'

"Jason I know you don't want to, but the nanites can heal you." She pleaded. "Please." She then leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek, before driving the needle into a vein on his neck.

Instantly, the bullets were pushed out of his legs and the wounds began to heal. Jason's eyes lit up, and he ripped himself away from the machete, the wound already starting to close.

"You're mine, bitch." Jason's eyes narrowed on Deathstroke. In the blink of an eye, Jason demonstrated his new abilities by shattering the machete with a single punch! Deathstroke spun around with a pistol, but Jason was able to grab his wrist and snap it like a twig. He then struck the assassin/merc hard in the chest, collapsing a lung. Deathstroke was launched into a wall, and Jason's fist blew into his mask, putting him out. The villain slid down the wall, blood streaking behind him.

Jason turned to see several armed guards surrounding the area. "I dare you." Jason clenched his fists. "We'll see which are faster… my reflexes, or your trigger fingers."

"Activate Short Leash now!" Waller screamed.

Several Cadmus techs tried to initiate the nanites-control operation, but could not.

"It- it's not responding!" A tech yelled.

"Of course it isn't." Denise laughed. "What amazes me is that you people were dumb enough to leave a computer with Dr. Crane. As soon as I broke free, I hacked your system and shut down the nanites-reactor."

"The reactor! It's overloading!" Another tech warned as an alarm began to sound.

"Let's get out of here." Jason grabbed Denise and leapt out a window, using his new strength to leap incredible distances. They soared away from the building as it suddenly went up in smoke. The Cadmus facility erupted in flames as the duo escaped.

"So we finally roasted Waller." Denise smiled.

"Doubt it. She always has a way out." Jason sighed, looking off into the sunset. "We should disappear before the cops show up. Its not every day that office buildings get blown to hell, they'll probably be here pretty quick."

"Just one thing first, Jason." Denise turned him around a kissed him deeply. Jason's mind was beginning to wander to places it hadn't been in a long time. Happy places. Then there was the pain. A sharp pain coursing through his body. He looked down to see that Denise had injected him with another needle. Jason started to feel light headed, his vision blurring.

"What the hell…" He stumbled back.

"I was falling in love with you, Jason. And we can't have that." Denise shoved him over, and he couldn't find the strength to get back up. She knelt down and smiled at him.

"How could you?" Jason choked, his lungs beginning to swell.

"Sorry baby, but this is just business." She kissed him again, and then slapped him. "Think fondly of me."

Denise got up and walked away, leaving Jason unconscious.

_Meanwhile, at the old LuthorCorp towers…_

"I apologize for keeping you waiting. I had some other business to tend to with the Wayne Foundation." Mayan Luthor said, arriving in the hidden area below the basement of the old LuthorCorp towers.

"So this is what happened to you. Lex." Lord Batman said in disgust, looking around the laboratory.

"I'll admit it was a bit drastic." 'Mayan' looked over her body briefly. "But it's only a temporary arrangement, I assure you. I'll be back in a more appropriate body soon enough."

"So what do you want Luthor? Why bring me here?" Lord Batman demanded.

"I have a proposition to make." Luthor handed the evil Batman a file. "The documents go into more detail, but long story short, I want you to continue your work. But with a few… changes, which you'll read about in the file."

"With the clones?" Lord Batman opened the file. "And I would do this for you… why?"

"I don't suppose offering you power is going to suffice. Not like it did with Johnny Quick."

"Not a chance. I know you well enough to know that you won't ever follow through on a deal." Lord Batman tossed the file. "I'm leaving."

"I'm afraid you're not."

"And who's going to stop me? You?"

Suddenly there was a blur, and 'Mayan' had Lord Batman by the throat, threatening to take him out with a super-strong crush. "I'm stronger than I look. But I'm afraid that isn't your motivation." She threw the Lord Batman into a wall.

"Then what is my motivation, Luthor?"

"The life of your little daughter." Mayan smiled. "Before you were abducted, I was sure to have my… assistant, Mr. Henshaw, inject the child with a few of my nanites."

"Nanites…?"

"Yes. They mainly function as a mind-control tool. But care to see what they do in self-destruct?" Mayan pushed a button on her wrist-computer, and suddenly one of the guards began to melt! The guard screamed in anguish as he was dissolved into a puddle of blood in a matter of seconds.

"Unbelievable…" Lord Batman clenched his fists, and really wished that they hadn't taken his utility belt.

"Now imagine that, happening to your little Martha." Mayan threatened. "And of course, we would make you watch, just for the fun of it."

"You're sick."

"Maybe so. But the threat on your daughter's life, combined with the fact that I could kill you with relative ease now that you don't have your little toys…"

"Fine. I'll build your army Luthor." Lord Batman surrendered.

"I already knew that. I wasn't asking." Mayan shoved the file back at him. "And you will follow my instructions, exactly. You will receive the rest of your materials shortly. I have another assistant working on getting them for us." Mayan began to leave the room.

"What about me, Luthor?" Cyborg's voice cut in.

"Ah, yes. About you, Mr. Henshaw…" Luthor waved to one of his guars, and they tossed him a large gun-case. He opened it up, and pulled out a gleaming silver rifle.

"Really? You think you're going to kill me with that?" Cyborg muttered.

"This is no hunting rifle, Mr. Henshaw. This is my backup plan, in case we somehow lose control of the clones." He took aim. "It'll tear its target apart on a cellular level, leaving nothing left."

"Fire away." Cyborg extended his arms.

"Your services were appreciated, Mr. Henshaw. As will your wives… once we manipulate the bitch into getting us the temporal device."

"_What?" _Cyborg's voice suddenly had an edge, and he tensed. "My wife… my wife is dead!"

"Right, of course." Luthor prepared to pull the trigger on the weapon.

"Right…" Cyborg stumbled back. "Wait a minute!"

"Mr. Henshaw you must have misheard me, I-"

"I said give me a minute!" Cyborg slammed his hand onto a nearby computer, and began siphoning all the data in Luthor's personal network. He only got bits and pieces of the plan, but it involved Terri. Using her for something. Controlling her. "Liar!" Cyborg shrieked, turning to attack.

Luthor quickly fired the weapon. Cyborg evaded just in time, and continued absorbing information. He was able to access the coordinates last used on a LuthorCorp teleporter, and knew that Superman was on Themyscira.

"Sick of this! Liars! Everyone is a liar!" Cyborg roared, becoming crazed again. "Terri is dead… no Terri is alive… but Terri is dead…" Cyborg clenched his scalp, his fragile mind beginning to shatter. "No – more – liars!" He fired a wave of heat vision and blasted Mayan down before smashing out the ceiling. "Me, or him… somebody's gotta' die… me or him…"

Cyborg took off toward Themyscira again; ready to decide things with the man of steel. Once and for all.

_Meanwhile, in an alleyway in Suicide Slums…_

"Q, what are we doing here?" Huntress groaned.

"Lord Batman spent at least one night in this area. I know it."

"How could you possibly know that Vic?"

"Leave the sleuthing to detectives, please."

"You're not a detective, you're a conspiracy nut with a slightly logical mind." Huntress playfully smacked him in the back of the head.

"There's evidence of a struggle here." Question said, examining the alley. "A recent struggle, judging by how these blood splatters are still damp."

"Q, we're in Suicide Slums. Those blood spatters could have come from just about anyone in the area."

"There's also a lot of damaged brick on this wall…" Question continued. "Somebody really strong struck this wall during the struggle. And here…" He knelt down and found soot. "There's evidence of a small explosion here. Probably from one of the Lord Batman's weapons. He definitely fought someone in this alley."

"You're just making wild assumptions Vic!" Huntress shouted.

"Like I said a minute ago, Helena. Leave the sleuthing to the detectives."

"You are impossible."

"Hah…"

"What?"

"I'm an impossible Question."

"Shut up Vic."

Question found an abandoned little shop on the corner of the alley. "I'd say Lord Batman camped out here."

"How can you possibly assume that?"

"I just know these things, ok?" Question began picking the lock on the shop, and they entered in slowly. There was the sound of a baby crying.

"Is that… a baby?" Huntress gasped.

"Told you he was here." Question moved over to the corner, where Martha was lying in a little crib that the Lord Batman had built for her. "I think he was starting to like this kid. He built her a crib and everything."

"Then why would he just leave her here?" Huntress lifted the baby in her arms.

"He probably didn't have a choice. Maybe he lost that fight in the alley."

"I hope you're right. I don't want to think that he just abandoned her here." Huntress cradled the infant.

Question stared at her with the baby for a moment. "It looks natural on you." He said before he thought about the statement.

"Really?" Huntress grinned. "When this is all over… how about we see how natural it looks?"

"Um…" Question went blank.

Suddenly his communicator sounded. He answered immediately.

"Have you found anything useful?" Bruce asked on the other end.

"Yeah. I think the Lord Batman was abducted."

"Abducted?"

"There are signs of a fight. And he just left the baby here. I don't think he'd do that voluntarily. Did you find anything interesting about 'Mayan' Luthor?"

"It's definitely Lex. During our conversation, he tried to hide his speech patterns by using annoying little nicknames. But I still caught on. It's undeniably Lex Luthor."

"That confirms our suspicions then. Anything else?"

"No. Mayan just tried to get me to go into business with LuthorCorp after that, nothing new for Lex."

"I can't help but feel that Lord Batman's abduction has something to do with Luthor. It just all seems to fit."

"I know exactly what you mean. And I had the same thought."

"But right now, all we can do is just sit on the sidelines and wait for our opportunity."

"I've never been good at that." Bruce hung up on the communicator.

"Come on Helena." Question began. "Let's head back. And bring the baby. I want to test her blood."

"What? Why?"

"Because she was left here. And she wouldn't have been if there wasn't a reason. I know Luthor likes to have leverage. I have a feeling we could find something interesting in that baby."

_Meanwhile, in a Metropolis Hospital room…_

A lovely nurse entered into the room of one Terri Henshaw. The nurse made her way over to the woman's hospital bed, and pulled out a needle. She put the needle in Terri's arm, and then turned to walk away.

"She's got the nanites, Luthor." The nurse said through her nano-link.

"Perfect. She can get us what we need." Luthor responded. "Good work, Denise my _darling_."

"Thanks, _honey_." Denise left the room.

A few minutes later, Terri began to wake up. She felt odd… powerful. She sat up in the hospital bed and looked around. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she felt better than ever.

_Meanwhile, at the Metrotower, in Dick's room…_

Galatea moaned softly as she cuddled next to Dick. She gently kissed his cheek and smiled softly. After everything that had happened to them, being forced to stay away from him, suffering clone degeneration, every single little thing and now finally, finally she had gotten what she so wanted. Gently she kissed his forehead.

"Was... Was it good?" She asked

Dick gently kissed her and held her close.

"It was perfect." He whispered.

"I love you Dick Grayson..." Galatea whispered.

He pulled Galatea close to him and felt her warm body next to his own. She snuggled her back close to his chest and let out a content sigh.

"I'm not ever letting go you know that right?" He asked her.

"I don't plan on ever letting go either." She said sounding happy.

A small laugh escaped from Galatea's lips and Dick looked at her for a moment.

"I was just thinking... I've seen all of Kara's exploits... But I think that we just put all of hers to shame." She said softly.

_Meanwhile, in the Metrotower in Kara's dorm room…_

Kara sat up as the vision of what she had just seen between Galatea and Dick  
crossed her mind. A small knowing smirk crossed her lips.

"You go girl." Kara said to the empty room.

_Meanwhile, outside the rooms where the clones were staying…_

J'onn looked down the hall and felt for the clones. Each of them was unique and different in their personalities, and yet each of them was scared of what would happen to them. Stormy had been the easiest to read and even her frightened mind seemed so confused. She told him that 'Tea had said he wouldn't hurt her. He assured her that 'Tea was right and all he wanted to do was to see what kind of information Lord Batman had left inside of her head. The moment he looked inside of them he felt a pressure building. Lord Batman had left a similar trait to that of the Thangarians. It wasn't impossible to read their minds, but it was hard, and harder still to do it in a way that wouldn't mentally cripple them for all time. He had carefully looked over all of the clones and found that the one design that was the same was a countdown. He walked into the empty conference room and began contacting Batman, Wonder Woman, John, Shayera, Question, Huntress, and Flash.

"What would he want a countdown for?" Shayera asked.

"It seems that the countdown is aligned with the beginning of the eclipse. However without the temporal device he will miss the opportunity of releasing the clones." J'onn stated.

"That's right; he can't release any Ultra-babes if they aren't ready!" Wally stated.

"Then it appears the clones pose no more threat?" Diana asked.

"With out the temporal device the new batch won't be ready. Even with growth treatments it will take years for Lord Batman to raise an army. But then again, I'm sure Luthor has thought of that." Bruce stated.

"We've got the baby in a temporary nursery in the Metrotower for the moment." Helena said.

"Then for the moment we shall keep her there." Bruce said.

"Guys this isn't on the roster, but Shayera and I... We want all of you that can to join us at our wedding. We want to hold a private wedding with just those close to us, and J'onn we would like you to oversee the ceremony." John said.

"I would be honored." J'onn replied.

"And Wally…" John sighed. He thought about their conversation on the boardwalk in Paris. That seemed like a long time ago now. "Wally, I've always given you a hard to time. But I've got to say, you're probably my closest friend, now that Clark is gone. So… I want you to be my best man."

"No way!" Wally's eyes lit up.

"About Clark…" Diana's voice broke in grimly. "What ever happened to Superman after that big battle in Metropolis?"

"He's been off the radar since then. We did find some evidence that he was taken by the Justice Lords, but if Lord Batman has been abducted now, that probably means he's on his own again." Batman said.

"Well he hasn't been causing any trouble that we know of. Maybe he's in hiding or something." Shayera suggested.

"That doesn't sound like him. It's strange, I'll admit. But since he hasn't caused trouble, he is not our main priority right now."

Suddenly there was an alert on one of Batman's devices. He looked at it, and a strange look crossed his face. "Terri Henshaw is out of the hospital."

"What? But I thought she wasn't supposed to ready to leave for like, two more weeks?" John raised an eyebrow.

"She wasn't. It seems she left on her own."

_Meanwhile, in Crime Alley…_

Jason Todd groaned as he leaned against the wall. The cure to the nanites had helped him escape Luthor's grasp, but he couldn't help but feel betrayed. Denise had played him like a fool, and he had let her. He had a feeling that she was telling the truth, and the truth be told he was starting to feel the same about her. Somehow... Their relationship reminded him of the old man's and Talia AlGhul's. The daughter of Ra's and Bruce had a relationship where she would betray Bruce at the drop of a hat, but she honestly did love him, or at least seemed to.

"Forget that... I don't need a Talia... I could handle a Selina, but not a fuckin' Talia." Jason said to himself.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Superman had finished the feast and said his goodbyes, and was now ready to leave Themyscira. He walked outside the temple and stared into the sky. He started to fly off, when there was a thundering crash before him.

Suddenly, he was face to face with Hank Henshaw.


	27. The Invasion

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Invasion

"You killed her!" Cyborg shrieked. His arm swung out and smashed Superman in the side of the head. Immediately a loud ringing erupted in Superman's ears, deafening all other noise around him. He felt himself hit again, this time in the stomach. He doubled over and stumbled back, only to find Cyborg's powerful metallic hands around his throat.

"I should kill you for what you did to her… I should choke the life out of you… I should tear you apart and burn the remains!"

Memories of killing Terri Henshaw flashed through Superman's mind. Five or six months ago now, he thought. He remembered the day he had attacked the launch site. Henshaw was headed up in to space, where the LexCorp shuttle would collect a large kryptonite meteor.

Superman had attacked this launch, he remembered that now. He remembered beating Henshaw mercilessly. _"P- Please Superman… I- I got a wife down there!" _Hank had pleaded, no begged. Superman had smiled and said, _"Not anymore." _Then he blasted the innocent woman with heat vision, killing her instantly.

After that he had blown up the shuttle, assuming Hank Henshaw had died. But he hadn't. He had drifted into space, barely alive, his hatred growing, consuming him more day by day. He had turned into a being of pure hate, knowing nothing but a lust for vengeance that could never be sated. And somewhere along the line, he had merged with a Superman Drone, and become the monster that he was now.

_ "It's my fault…" _Superman thought. _"All the people he's hurt… I did this."_

Then a more recent memory flitted through Superman's mind. The battle in Metropolis, the day he had lost his memory. He remembered fleeing into that alley, trying to escape amidst all the confusion.

Terri had followed him. For some stupid reason, she had followed him there. And then the Justice Lords showed up. That baterang… it sliced through Terri's neck. There was so much blood. But was she dead? She had come back the first time… maybe she had gotten medical attention?

"T- Terri…" Superman choked.

"Don't say her name!" Cyborg shrieked, tightening his grip. "Don't you dare say her name! You don't _deserve _to say her name!"

"She's – alive…" Superman coughed. Cyborg's grip loosened a little.

"What?"

"She might be… I don't know. But there's a chance that she might be alive."

"What then? You left her alive so you could screw with my head some more? So you could hurt her more?"

"It wasn't me! I swear, I didn't hurt her… not the second time."

"Liar!"

Cyborg hurled Superman down into the ground

"I really don't think she's dead!" Clark yelled.

"It doesn't matter, because if she is alive then you'll just try to kill her again. If she's alive I won't let you touch her!" Hank screamed as he flew forward.

Clark caught him in a hard kick to the face and knocked him off course.

"Think about it! I could have already beaten you! If I was the same I wouldn't be trying to take you down without killing you!" Clark shouted.

"No, it doesn't matter because you stole everything from us. You stole our child, you stole our life together, and I'm going to make you pay for it with your life!" Cyborg shouted.

Knowing that the only way to help him was to stop him Clark launched as much super breath as he could. Within moments Cyborg was contained in a block of ice that even Clark would be hard pressed to escape from very easily. He watched as a red beam began to form and Clark grabbed the ice block and carried it as fast as he could toward an uninhabited island. He dropped it and looked at the face of the block.

"Look I know that you are going to keep chasing me no matter what I say, but I'm going to go make sure Terri is alive." Clark said as he dropped busted communicator, "This is a Justice League communicator. It doesn't allow you to speak, but you can hear on it. If you are half as smart as I think you are then you can pinpoint my location. I'm going to get another communicator and I'm going to talk directly to you. I'll let you know where Terri is. Be with your wife for God's sake. If you want to protect her, then protect her, but stop trying to kill someone who doesn't want to hurt her or you." Clark said as he took off toward Metropolis.

_About an hour later, at Slaughter Swamp…_

Terri arrived in Slaughter Swamp, one of the most notorious places in Gotham. Legend had it that Solomon Grundy had been killed in this swamp, before being reborn as a zombie.

After waking up in the hospital, Terri had felt spectacular. But there was an odd voice in her head… one that she found increasingly difficult to resist. She had broken into the Batcave, which had been relatively simple since and Alfred knew and trusted her, and had allowed her to go in and wait for Batman to return.

It was only after Terri was in the cave did Alfred receive Bruce's distress call, warning him that something might be wrong. And that was when Terri grabbed a fire extinguisher and knocked the old butler out cold.

Then she had taken Clock King's temporal alteration device, and escaped with it. She had no idea why she was doing these things, but there was such a strong force in her mind willing her to, that she just couldn't stop. The strangest thing was, she barely even recognized most of her own actions. It was as if her senses had been dulled, so she was only half-aware of what she was even doing. A way of keeping her from getting emotional, while she still had some minor free will going for her.

Luthor hadn't fully taken control yet, he was only influencing her every action, but not completely controlling them. He couldn't afford to raise too much suspicion just yet.

"Bout' time, darling." A powerful but feminine voice called out. Denise La'Sure stepped out from behind a large oak tree, a gun at her side.

Terri felt her arm moving upward, holding the temporal device out toward Denise. "You did well, honey." Denise took the device and slid it into a pocket, before withdrawing a gun. She held the gun to Terri's forehead. "But now you've outlived your usefulness."

Suddenly there was a bright red flash, and the gun was burned out of Denise's hand! "What the hell?" The woman backed away and saw Superman hovering over them!

"Here that Hank? I just saved your wife's life. If that doesn't prove my point, then you may be a lost cause." Superman said into the communicator, knowing that Cyborg was listening to the ordeal.

"Damn it." Denise growled before she turned around and sprinted into a lead-lined tunnel.

Superman levitated down toward Terri. "Are you alright?"

"Actually, I'm better than you might think." Lex Luthor's voice suddenly came through Terri!

"What the hell?" Superman was startled.

"The beauty of technology, Superman. This woman's body is little more than an extension of my will." Terri grinned painfully. A faint glimmer in her eyes showed that she was aware of the situation, but had no control whatsoever. Suddenly the voice changed to Terri's, but Luthor was still in control. "I came prepared, you see. The temporal device wasn't all that I stole from the Batcave."

Terri, under Luthor's command, quickly pulled out a kryptonite ring and slipped it onto her finger.

Superman immediately felt the effects of the radiation, and took a step back. But with nanites-increased speed, Terri flashed over and struck Superman. The man of steel fell to the ground, the ring leaving a large indent in his cheek. He began to muster a weak beam of heat vision in his eyes.

"What are you going to do? Kill Terri Henshaw again?" Luthor's voice came through. "If you do that, you'll still be a target for both the Justice League and Mr. Henshaw. The nanites will disappear from her bloodstream as soon as her heart stops beating. No one will ever believe your story. Face it Superman, no matter what move you make, you die, and I win!"

"Monster…" Superman muttered.

"Takes on to know one, now doesn't it?" Terri kicked Superman hard in the ribs, and then hit him with the ring again. "I missed this old ring, you know that?" Luthor's voice said gleefully. "Batman probably left it for old Al, in case you attacked the Batcave when you went rogue. Good thinking, I suppose."

"What's the big plan Luthor?" Superman gasped. "Frame me again?"

"Frame you? Excuse me, dumbass, but I _never _framed you. Not once. Everything you did, you did on your own. I was just the one who gave you a little push. Oh, and no actually. The endgame will be much, much grander than that. And I have everything I need now. We just need to wait for that eclipse, which happens to be tomorrow! And then, everything will unfold."

Terri, controlled by Luthor, hit Superman one final time, knocking him unconscious. She then swung Superman over her shoulder, and followed Denise down the tunnels. "Just wait Superman… and you'll watch me succeed where you failed."

_Meanwhile, back on Themyscira…_

Cyborg roared one last time, and ripped himself free of the ice containing him. He held the damaged communicator Superman had given him in his hand. He had heard the entire ordeal, and knew what was happening. He knew that Luthor was using his wife. He knew that he had taken Superman hostage. And he knew that he was up to something terrible.

"Huh. Guess I'm gonna play the hero." Cyborg sighed. "For her." He closed his eyes and allowed his organic metal body to interface with the communicator, assimilating the device into his body. There was a GPS tracker on all the JLA communicators, and now Cyborg could mentally tap into it.

After a moment of focusing, he located Superman. "Luthor's smart, but not smart enough to ditch the communicator." Cyborg smiled hatefully. He flew off into the sky. "Time for one last vendetta."

_The next day, in an old church…_

Everyone invited had gathered for the ceremony. Bruce, Diana, Oliver, Dinah, Wally, Linda, Helena, Vic, Kyle, Dick, Galatea, Tim, Connor, Stephanie, Bart, Kara, Lois, Alfred, Mari, and Greg were there for John and Shayera's wedding.

John had invited certain members of the Green Lantern Corps who he got along with as well, such as Kilowog and Ch'p. It was probably the oddest assortment of people you would ever find in one room. Dick and Galatea sat toward the back, along with Bruce, Diana, Kara and Lois.

Kara shot Galatea a knowing look and smirked, remembering her dream from the night before. Galatea pretended not to notice.

"Alfred told me what happened. Terri must be under Luthor's control." Dick whispered.

"Yes." Bruce nodded. "And now Luthor has Clock King's time device… and Lord Batman has gone missing. I hope I'm wrong about his plan, but I don't think that I am. And if I'm right…"

"We might all be in trouble." Galatea finished for him.

"Yeah." Bruce said grimly.

"Regardless, let's not think about it for the moment. This is a happy time." Diana interjected.

"I wish I could see it that way." Bruce looked out the window. The eclipse had already started. It was the middle of the day, but looked black as night outside.

Galatea looked over and saw two infants, one in Kara's arms, and the other in Lois's. She recognized the boy in Lois's arms as Jonathon, Lois's own son. But who was the infant girl? Galatea was pretty sure she would have known if Kara had a child…

"Her name's Martha." Kara said quickly, as if she had read her clone's mind. "She, um… she was the daughter of Lord's Batman and Diana. Vic and Helena found her all by herself."

"Shhh, they're about to kiss." Diana whispered hoarsely.

Down below, John and Shayera held hands lovingly. J'onn stood behind them, overseeing the ceremony. Wally stood at the side, as John's best man, looking happy.

"You may kiss the bride." J'onn announced, smiling.

John and Shayera leaned in passionately, about to finally close the deal. But just before their lips met, there was a thundering crash that shook the church.

"What the hell?" Wally yelled and took a step back. He looked up a saw a bright, menacing red light shining the mosaic featuring an image of Jesus. "Uh… sorry." Wally muttered.

Suddenly the mosaic was blasted out by the wave of heat vision, and warriors began flying in. The new batch of clones, that Lord Batman had been forced to prepare for Luthor. Because of the temporal device, the clone's growth had been sped up so that they would be ready in time for the eclipse.

Since they were infused with the Ultraman DNA, they would be most powerful during this eclipse. And the bone spikes protruding from their arms made it apparent that they had been given what was left of the Doomsday DNA from SHIELD. They had all been modeled to look like Lex Luthor.

An army of Doomsday-Ultraman powered clones, resembling the most dangerous man in the world, made for a very threatening sight as they poured into the church, immediately beginning in their destructive onslaught around the globe.

"Figures. I can't have just one day." John grumbled in frustration.

J'onn looked toward the attacking army, and even he felt the need to say, "Oh crap."

**Next two chapters end it all! That's right, only two more chapters left for Superman: Redemption. Thank you all for reading up to this point, and I hope you enjoy the shocking twists I have in store for the end…**


	28. Sacrifice

**So I've been thinking about it, and there MAY be thirty chapters by the end. I want to leave room for an Epilogue, so you might have two more chapters after this one to read. But Redemption definitely won't be any longer than thirty chapters.**

**Thanks for reading this far, and I swear that the next update will come much faster. **

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sacrifice 

J'onn delivered a powerful punch into one of the Luthor clones, but was immediately met with nine simultaneous beams of heat vision, blasting him back down toward the church.

"You ok?" Shayera asked while she located her mace.

"These clones are not like the ones before. They are connected. They act as a unit, almost as if they are all extensions of one being… they all seem to share a massive field of vision, as well as other senses."

"J'onn what are you getting at?" Shayera raised an eyebrow.

"These clones are operating on one conscious, one mind… and there is only one human mind capable of such a feat. Lex Luthor."

_Meanwhile, at the Old Luthorcorp Tower, in Mayan's office…_

Mayan/Lex smiled as she stepped into the form fitting silver suit. Attached to the back of it was a yellow sun generator. She felt the generator fill her with energy. She took off from her office and jumped out of the window. She effortlessly floated to the ground and watched the battle.

Behind her two clones held Superman making him watch the devastation happening around them. 

"Beautiful isn't it? Everything that I could ever want is right at my fingertips and I have you to thank for it. If it wasn't for my hatred of you I would never have gotten Cancer, I might not have transferred myself into this new body, and I doubt that I would have had the aspiration to create an army of Luthor clones so perfectly capable of enslaving the world." Luthor said as she looked at Superman.

"Luthor!" the angry voice of Hank Henshaw shouted as he shot from the darkness and slammed into Luthor striking her hard and knocking her to the ground.

"Mr. Henshaw... I've been expecting you" Mayan/Lex said as Denise walked out with a bound Terri Henshaw.

"Back down now, or Denise puts a bullet through your wife's head. I seriously doubt that she will return a third time." Mayan said in cold voice.

Hank pulled back and looked at Terri.

"Terri... Come here." Mayan said in a firm voice.

"I am gracious enough that I will allow you speak for yourself. Of course you will do what I tell you as I allow you to speak for yourself." Mayan said as released some of the influence on Terri.

"Hank... I'm so sorry..." She began

"it's not your fault... It's that bitch behind you. I love you Terri, I know that you can't help this." Hank said.

"I love you too... God I don't want to do this!" Terri shouted as she lifted a rifle looking device.

"Terri..." Hank said as her finger began to whiten on the trigger.

"Hank get away from here! Please I don't want to do this!" She screamed as the trigger pulled and almost faster than the speed of sound a blast of energy came out of the 'rifle'.

Hank moved and the blast hit a stray clone which caused it to scream and then blink out of existence. He moved toward Terry walking calmly.

"I know that you aren't going to hurt me Terry. I know that because I know how much of a fighter you are. You're strong... you're the strongest woman I know." he said as he neared her.

He reached her and pulled the rifle from her hands. Smiling he touched her face. Suddenly all of the control on her ended and she wrapped her arms around him. She kissed her husband deeply and held on to him as if he might disappear.

"I love you Terri." He said before he screamed in pain.

Terri stepped back and looked to see something causing him to drop to his knees. It started slowly but then it began moving through him faster and faster until a huge blast of sun light erupted from him. Several of the clones around him just turned to ash when that happened, including the one that had picked up the rifle and shot him in the back.

The smoke cleared, revealing that Terri had actually managed to shove Hank out of the path of most of the blast. But he had still lost his arm and both legs. The Cyborg lay on the ground, and drifted into a strange sort of sleep mode. The nanites tried to rebuild his missing limbs, but could not. Hank's very cells had been dematerialized in the blast.

Now free and slightly recharged from the solar energy that was released when Hank was partly destroyed Superman charged Mayan and slammed his fist into her. She groaned and hit him back hard showing that even with the small recharge he had received she was still stronger thanks to the solar suit she was wearing. They began to fight each other hard slamming their fists into each other, kicking, and ramming each other into walls. 

"I'm stronger than you Superman! I. AM. A. GOD!" Mayan shouted as she landed a well placed kick to his stomach and knocked him spirling toward the ground.

He groaned and laid there for a moment and if not for what looked kind of like Kara from behind he would have been killed by 'Mayan' Luthor's heat vision. A blur of blonde pulled him out of the way of the blast.

"Kara?" He asked.

"Not even close, but lets say for a moment that right now Luthor is important to stop than you, and since you where helping I figured that saving your ass would help us in the long run." Galatea said as she kept her heat vision matched with Mayan Luthor's.

"How long can you keep that up my little imperfect clone?" Mayan taunted.

"As long as it takes." Galatea growled.

At that moment Superman zoomed around the back and struck Mayan with as much force as he could muster, launching the villain through a concrete wall. But upon emerging, Mayan only laughed and completely shrugged off the blow.

"A hit like that would have had even me seeing stars… what's going on here?" Superman muttered to himself. He looked up at the sky. "Sure I can't draw fresh energy right now, with the eclipse going on… but Luthor shouldn't be able to either. Unless…" The man of steel's eyes opened wide and he looked at the suit Luthor was wearing.

"Ah, I see we're catching on then." Mayan/Lex smiled. "I have four satellites orbiting around the sun as we speak, constantly drawing in masses of solar energy… and that energy is being fed from the satellites directly into this suit, and from there, directly into my new Kryptonian body. So basically, you can't draw energy, and I _can_."

_"Damn it."_ Galatea thought. _"If this fight goes on very long… Luthor will be more powerful than Superman and I combined pretty soon."_

"Don't you get it Superman?" Luthor screamed triumphantly. "I'm stronger than you! My army is growing by the second, and I have millions of troops ravaging the Earth even as we speak. This eclipse will last three days. By then the Earth's defenses will have been crushed, and a new era will begin. The Luthor Dynasty!"

"World domination Luthor? That was never really a big goal of yours. You preferred to control things behind the scenes, not march out and conquer. Why the sudden change in character?" Superman inquired, trying to keep Luthor talking until he could find a weakness of some sort in his opponent.

"Behind the scenes? That was Lex Luthor's dream. Lex Luthor died because of you." Mayan grinned. "This is Mayan Luthor now, and Mayan Luthor has much bigger goals."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me… what's with the sex change? I never would have guessed, Lex."

"It's your fault, too. The old body was dying… because of you!"

"Me? You're the one who went all out on Kryptonite steroids because of a sick fixation on killing me."

"Shut up! Don't try to bullshit your way out of this one, Superman!" Heat vision burned in Luthor's eyes as the anger welled up. "You're going to die, and I'm going to love every second of it."

There was a blur, and then Superman was smashed through the floor by a powerful blow, sending him crashing down through the towers, floor after floor, until he finally crashed into the basement. Immediately he was blasted by heat vision and catapulted out into the street, where a thundering blow was landed into his stomach.

"Did you ever think I'd end like this, boy scout? Me and you, two gods clashing for power… funny, I _always _pictured this. Maybe that's been the big difference between you and me all along… we're both gods among men, we're both invincible in our own right, but you just can't see the big picture. You can't see it, because you're too afraid to look. And that's the big determining factor in it all… that's why I – will always – Win!"

Luthor's fist pelted into the side of Superman's face, sending him spiraling into a car. The only opponent that Superman had ever truly feared was Doomsday… but now Mayan Luthor was about to break the record.

"Alright bitch…" Superman stood up slowly. "You brought out the killer in me. I put him back." Superman turned around slowly with a cold smile. "But in your case, I don't think it'll hurt to break my golden rule one last time."

"What? You're threatening to kill me now? That's just beautiful. All my dreams really are coming true." Luthor laughed.

"It's not a threat Luthor. It's a promise." Superman clenched his fists. "After all, I swore to never take a human life… but I don't think you even qualify anymore."

_Meanwhile, atop the old Luthorcorp tower…_

Kara had arrived to find Galatea watching the battle below. With their super hearing, they listened in on Superman and Luthor's conversation.

"Think Superman will really kill him this time?" Kara asked anxiously.

"No." Galatea shook her head.

"You think he'll lose?"

"No. I don't."

"Then I guess I don't understand. What are you getting at 'Tea?"

"If there was one thing I learned from Cadmus, it was how to call a bluff. Superman's lying… to my complete surprise, he's lying. He isn't going to kill Luthor; he just wants the bastard's attention for a while."

"What could be the motive behind that though?" Kara asked in confusion.

"No motive. Just nobility." A third voice said, penetrating the air. The two blondes looked back to see Volcana approaching.

"Claire? What are you doing here?" Galatea asked.

"Helping." Volcana drew a sword. "After all, it's only a matter of time until Luthor's army makes it to Themyscira right? And there is no way in hell they're getting near Anthony. So I want to make sure this all gets put to a stop before it's too late."

"And what did you mean by nobility?" Galatea raised an eyebrow.

"Superman's changed." Volcana smiled. "He's not back to his old self, exactly. But he's back on the right track now; I've seen it with my own two eyes."

"We'll revisit that later." Galatea said skeptically. "Why'd you show up _here_?"

"I have an idea to get rid of these clones. Like, all of them at once." Volcana's expression darkened. "But you really aren't going to like it."

_Vacant Lot, one hour later…_

Volcana, Galatea and Kara had gathered together everyone they could, rounding off the list with Dick, Batman, J'onn, Question, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Huntress.

"So what's the big plan babe?" Dick asked quickly as he scanned the skies for more attackers.

"Don't know. Claire hasn't told us yet." Galatea shrugged.

"Ok, everybody listen up." The red headed former villainous said strongly, holding up the 'rifle' device that Luthor had used on Cyborg. "We all know what this thing does right?"

"Mass Deterioration Initializer, or MDI Gun. It tears you apart on a cellular structure." Question nodded.

"Cadmus has a smaller caliber version, but it isn't nearly as effective as this one. Luther designed this to kill instantly." Batman pointed out.

"Right. And Galatea, Kara… you two saw what happened when this thing hit Cyborg…" Volcana continued.

"Yeah. If it weren't for Terry, he would have been dead in the blink of an eye. He lost like, half his body in the blast." Galatea remembered.

"Yeah and as soon as it hit, there was this really bright, blinding light." Kara added.

"Yes. That light you saw… that was the solar energy in Cyborg's cells being released all at once. Remember what happened to the clones in the area at that moment?"

"They burned up almost instantly. Probably because of the Ultraman DNA." Galatea nodded. "Where are you going with this Claire?"

"Well… Kryptonian cells store up solar energy on a massive scale, right? I did some serious calculations in my head, and I honestly think that if we were to vaporize a Kryptonian with this thing… it might be enough to get rid of every single clone!"

"All of them? All at once?" Huntress's eyes opened up wide.

"Yeah."

"She's probably right, judging by the rate of Kryptonian cellular absorption… and the amount of time it's stored for… factor in wind patterns and the actual blast factor… it all adds up." Question verified.

"Whoa, slow down a minute." Dick said abruptly. "Let's rewind to the word 'vaporize'?"

"The Kryptonian would be killed on the spot." Volcana said grimly.

"Well then this is out of the question. We're heroes, we don't just fry people." Green Arrow interjected quickly.

"I agree with Oliver." Question nodded. "Maybe I could hack Luthor's satellites and redirect the sunlight toward the Earth? Or-"

"No. It won't work. Luthor's planned for all that already." Batman said in a dark tone. "He knows everything we would do, that's been planned out from the beginning. It makes since that our only chance of winning, is the one thing he knows we'll never do. Sacrifice an innocent life."

"Are you seriously supporting this Bruce?" Dick turned around angrily.

"At the moment I don't see any other alternative. I don't like this either, but look around you Dick… Metropolis has already been laid to waste. Hell, most of the northern hemisphere has been destroyed already! This is army of soldiers with Kryptonian powers, Doomsday regeneration, and no weakness. And they are being controlled by the most intelligent, and most devious mind in human history. We have no chance of winning this war without breaking a few of our own rules."

"We can't just sacrifice someone Bruce! That isn't what we do! You taught me that!" Dick screamed.

"Losing any life is tragic. But consider it for a moment, Dick. If we don't take this chance, millions… maybe billions of others will _all _die. If we can prevent that with only one casualty… sadly, I think it's the only way."

"If we're really pursuing this, then I say we hit Cyborg." Huntress reasoned.

"No, that won't work." Volcana shook her head. "The blast didn't kill him the first time, which mean's he's probably adapted already. Hitting him wouldn't work."

"Then what about Superman? Think of all the terrible things he's done, and it might be a little easier." Green Arrow said quietly, almost regrettably.

"Superman is the only thing distracting Luthor's attention right now. If we take him out of the picture, there is nothing keeping Luthor from finishing off Earth's military defenses by morning." J'onn argued.

"Then I'll do it." Kara sighed. "Somebody has to."

"No, that isn't happening. We won't lose you Kara; we aren't going to do that." Black Canary argued.

"Come on, you know it's for the best." Kara pleaded sadly. "I really think-"

"Stop it. Everyone, just stop." Galatea barked, looking down sullenly but confidently. "It has to be me."

"'Tea, no." Dick said immediately. "There is no way in hell we're going to kill you!"

"Come on Dick, you know it's the only way. Plus, I'd probably be more effective anyway. My body was aged to where my powers would be at their peak. My cells absorb solar energy more efficiently than Kara's do right now." Galatea reasoned. "If we're going to take these bastards out, I'm the best ammunition."

"'Tea stop it right now! I won't let that happen!" Dick protested.

"Dick… please. Let's face reality for a moment… I'm a clone. I was born in a test tube, and bred to be a weapon. This is my purpose… I do what needs doing for the greater good of the human race. And right now, this needs to be done."

"Galatea…"

"You know it's me." She touched his shoulder gingerly. "Please. If I'm going to die, let me die with purpose. I don't want to be just a weapon, and I don't want to be just a hero. I'll be _the _hero…" She smiled. "The one who goes down in history for giving her life, so humanity could live. Dick, you know its right."

"It's not right." He backed away disbelievingly. "Please, don't do this to me."

"She is the best option." Batman chimed in.

"Bruce… how could you even…" Dick looked him in the eyes. "How could you do this to me? Stop this! Please!"

"You knew what this job comes with Dick. We have to make sacrifices." Batman said coldly, but a faint glimmer of compassion lined his voice, masking what might have been love. "You always told me that when push comes to shove, you would do what needs to be done. Prove it now."

"Bruce…" Dick looked around the group. "You're all really supporting this?"

"Not exactly. But I can't come up with a great argument at the moment either." Black Canary frowned.

"Huh… you really want to do this, don't you Galatea?"

"Yes." She said distantly.

"Then I guess there's no stopping you."

"We'll have to get to the highest point in Metropolis, if we want this to be really effective." Volcana reasoned.

"That's easy." Galatea looked upward. "The Daily Planet."

"Wait for my signal." Batman turned and walked off.

"Where are you going Bruce?" Green Arrow called.

"It won't do us any good to destroy the clones if more are being produced. I'm going to the source… the clone production factory."

"I need to get going to." Question headed off toward the Metrotower.

"Vic? Where are you headed?" Huntress called after him.

"I have a plan to take down Luthor himself… or maybe herself, depending on how you look at it."

_Metrotower, A half hour Later…_

Question arrived at the Metrotower and looked to the female clones they had rescued earlier. They had all chosen names now. There was Stormy, who had sort of taken charge as a 'leader' for them. There was Angel, who admired Hawkgirl as a role model, and Jerri, who had chosen her name because she liked the mouse in Tom and Jerry. Then there were Snow, Silky, and Donna.

"What's going on outside? What's with all the loud noises and stuff?" Stormy asked.

"Things took a turn for the worst. Clone Armageddon outside. I need blood." Question said quickly, pulling out a needle. "Hold out your arm."

"What?" A scared look flashed over Stormy's face.

"Uh," Helena rolled her eyes and spoke to Stormy softly. "He just wants to borrow a little bit of your blood, to look for something in it that we can use to fight the bad guys. It won't hurt, I promise."

"Oh, ok." Stormy's face brightened and she slowly held out her arm.

"Why does your voice change when you talk to them?" Question whispered to Huntress.

"You would not be good with kids, Q." Huntress laughed and shook her head.

"Hmm… I'll have to investigate this later. But for now, I'll focus on the blood." Question began drawing blood from all of the clones.

"What exactly are you looking for anyway Vic?" Huntress asked.

"The Clone Degeneration Gene. I plan on using it against Luthor's new body."

_Meanwhile, in an old factory that has been transformed into the Clone Production Plant..._

Lord Batman searched quietly for Martha, all the while knowing she probably wasn't even in the building.

"Looking for someone?" A baritone voice barked behind him.

"My daughter actually." Lord Batman grinned. "Thanks for asking." He turned around to see the real Batman facing him down. "I thought you'd get here sooner."

"I ran into a few delays." Batman said dryly.

Lord Batman casually pushed open a heavy steel door, and motioned for Batman to follow. Cautiously, the dark knight passed through the doorway. He was immediately greeted by loud mechanical sounds, and saw a large machine literally launching the Luthor clones out into the sky as they came off the conveyor belt.

"Once they get outside, the nanites activate and they become part of Luthor's conscious." Lord Batman explained. "Beautiful isn't it? This glorious machine produces almost a hundred clones per second. That's far more than enough to level this world in three days."

"Beautiful? More like an abomination. I'm shutting you down."

"I figured you'd say something along those lines." Lord Batman's expression quickly changed to a very serious glare, and he performed a roundhouse kick, striking the hero in the chest. Batman quickly reacted by spinning around and whipping out three baterang.

Lord Batman quickly sidestepped, but one of the projectiles sliced across his chest, leaving a gash in his bat-symbol.

The evil Batman started to react, but then sighed and took a step back. "I have more important things to do at the moment. If you're still alive when I come back, then I'll take the time to kill you." Lord Batman punched a code into his gauntlet-computer, before shooting a grapple upward and pulling himself into a higher floor.

Several of the Luthor clones redirected their attention, and assaulted Batman the moment they left the production machine.

"Damn it." Batman prepared for battle. "Looks I'll have to bring the place down fighting."

_Meanwhile, atop the warehouse…_

Denise dropped down from her helicopter and landed on the roof of the clone production plant. She held a pistol at her side, knowing very well that her mission would not be easy. Luthor had assigned her to kill Lord Batman, now that the Clone Production Plant was up and running, there was no need for him anymore. Especially since there was a chance he would find his daughter and turn against them. The final Justice Lord had to be eliminated, and Denise would be the one to do it.

But as she crept along the rooftop toward an entrance, a gunshot rang out and blasted her own gun out of her hand!

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings, bitch." A familiar voice barked. Denise turned to see Jason Todd leaned against an old chimney.

"Jason. I was wondering when you'd hunt me down." Denise grinned. "Although I didn't expect you to be so merciful. You could have killed me with that shot, so why didn't you?"

"When I kill you, I want you to see it coming. I want to look into those pretty little eyes of yours, and watch you die." Jason said in a dangerously serious tone of voice. "I don't handle rejection well, and when you left me to die in that hole… you singed your own death warrant."

"Touchy." Denise laughed. "I'd love to chat honey, but I've got other things to do at the moment. So instead, how about I leave you with the boys to play awhile?" Denise whipped a flare into the sky, and the moment it ignited, six bone-spiked Luthor Clones touched down in a line behind her. "They're _very _protective of me." She chuckled, kissing one of the clones on the cheek. "Kill him for me babies, and I'll be back later 'kay?"

After that Denise turned and leapt over the edge of the building. Jason attempted to follow, but there was a blur, and one of the clones had him by the neck. "Don't think so!" Jason barked, using his newly enhanced strength to fling the clone off of him. "Hate to see it…" He mumbled, "But these nanites actually work. And since I have the deactivation code, Luthor can't control me. So in other words… I'm the only one on equal footing with these assholes."

A wave of heat vision erupted behind him, and he barely got out of the way before being struck by freeze-breath, and his arm was iced. "Or not." He muttered again, leaping back. A clone flew at him so fast that he created a sonic-boom, but Jason reacted by swinging his frozen arm out and smashing the attacker in the head.

Immediately the ice shattered, and the clone tumbled out of the air with blood streaming down his face.

Realizing he was surrounded, Jason whipped a grenade like a fastball, and then shot it with his pistol. The resulting blast shattered the bulletproof-glass skylight, and Jason leapt down into the factory, followed by six blurs all firing heat vision rapidly.

Jason sprinted down the steel hallway he had touched down in, headed toward the sound of another clash not too far away. He hoped to find Denise and Lord Batman battling it out. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone… or in this case one bullet.

But when he kicked down the door, he was surprised to find the Batman from _his _world, fighting a dozen of the clones, and losing badly.

His suit was in tatters, and blood ran down from the dark knight in continuously.

Jason leapt in just as Batman was about to be impaled from behind, and kicked the clone's head in, sending it flying across the room.

"Jason?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just saved your ass old man. So do me a favor and skip the lecture this time?"

"Deal." Batman said as he lobbed three explosive pellets into the face of another attacker. "How did you kick that clone so hard without breaking your leg?"

"Nanites. I got stabbed through the stomach, and had to take them to survive."

"So how is Luthor not controlling you?"

"Because I know the deactivation code, and how to initialize it."

"Mind telling me how you got that information?"

"I did a little side job for Luthor, busted him out of Stryker's. So in retrospect, I guess this whole thing is sort of my fault."

"I'm not interested in blame right now. I'm more worried about survival."

"For once we agree on something."

They continued to beat back the clones for a few more minutes before Jason set off a flash-bang, and the two former partners raced toward the production machine. They leapt over a barrier and Jason immediately emptied a clip into the face of a clone, while Batman planted C4 on it's back. Jason took cover but continued firing while Batman set it off, literally blasting the clone through the floor!

"Just like the good old day's right?" Jason grinned.

"When were those again?" Batman retorted, and they continued running.

"I'm getting all nostalgic Bruce. You and me, running for our lives making up a plan as we go along. It almost makes me miss the whole Batman and Robin bullshit… almost."

"Why are you here anyway?"

"Business as usual. Chasing down sadistic whores, getting thrown into life threatening situations, you know how it goes."

"Unfortunately I do."

After plowing their way through another wave of clones, they reached the device that spawned them. Replicating Luthor's DNA, infusing it with Doomsday and Ultraman DNA, and then inducing the nanites.

They stood on a steel walkway, looking down into the gigantic, armored pod that constantly spewed fresh clones ready for battle.

"I think I've seen this movie before." Jason remarked as he examined the device.

"How'd it end?"

"Let's just say there wasn't a sequel."

Batman drew three powerful bright red devices from his utility belt.

"Are those what I think they are?" Jason gaped.

"Just one of these devices packs about half the punch of a nuclear warhead. Multiply that by three, and it should definitely be enough to bring this place down."

"Nuke the clone babies. Got it." Jason nodded.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and more of Luthor's army began to spill in from the ceiling, more than they could count.

"Guess Lex knows we're here. He sent a whole damn militia." Jason groaned.

There was a blur, and both of them were suddenly slammed against the metal railing. Batman was forced to lose his grip on the bombs, and they dropped into the darkness below.

"Don't suppose you brought extras?"

"No such luck."

Batman and Jason simultaneously flung up their legs and kicked off the clone that had tackled them.

"Maybe I could climb down and-"

"No." Batman interrupted. "As a failsafe, the bombs de-weaponize the moment they no longer detect my pulse, unless I set them to detonate first. They're useless now."

"You know what Bruce, your fail safes suck."

The battled a bit longer, standing back to back, Jason firing off two Uzi's while Batman used whatever he could pull out of his arsenal. Eventually, his utility belt was out of weapons.

"I'm out!" Batman barked.

"Take mine." Jason offered him a gun.

"Not my style."

"You're funeral." Jason shrugged and continued fighting.

Batman did a flip over one of the clones and headed toward the teleporter device that was used to send the clones outside once they were spawned. He immediately began to hack the panel, and put in his own coordinates.

"What the hell are you doing Wayne?" Jason demanded.

"Bringing this place down."

Batman pulled out his communicator and immediately sent out a message. "Wally, John, Shayera, Diana. This is Batman. Please respond."

"Yeah?" Wally's voice came through frantically.

"What is it?" John responded.

"Bruce? Where are you?" Diana asked.

"What's up?" Shayera replied.

"I'm at the Clone Production Plant. I need the four of you to clear the area of everyone within a two-hundred block radius, immediately."

"What for?" Wally asked.

"What are you planning to do Bruce?" Diana added.

"I'm destroying this plant one way or another. The bombs I prepared are gone, so it's time for plan B. I'm headed to the watch tower."

"The watch tower? Why? We don't have the cannon anymore." John pointed out.

"I know." Batman said grimly.

"Wait a minute…" Shayera gasped.

"Bruce!" Diana shouted. "You aren't planning to-"

Bruce turned off the communicator and looked to Jason. "You should leave too."

"Sure thing. But Bruce…" Jason stopped cold. "Whatever it is you're doing, you aren't going to walk away from it, are you?"

Batman did not respond.

"Didn't think so." Jason sighed. He started to sprint off, but then stopped again, this time more hesitantly. "Hey Bruce… I know I didn't turn out like you wanted. But for what it's worth, you would have made a good father. I'm just a screw up." And with that, Jason turned and sprinted out of sight.

Batman took a deep breath. "Sorry… Diana." Then he leapt into the abyss, diving straight toward the portal.

_Watchtower, moments later…_

Bruce beamed himself into the watchtower, and then punched in a code on his gauntlet computer, setting off the small bomb he had placed on the control panel back at the factory. That way none of the clones could follow him there.

With absolute certainty, Bruce moved toward the control room, where J'onn usually spent his days. He sat down in front of the control panel, and closed his eyes. "No chance I'm surviving this twice." He went to work for a moment, positioning the tower correctly, before he switched to manual controls, and deactivated the gravity stabilizers. Instantly, the watchtower began to plummet toward the Earth.

Diana came in over the radio. "Bruce! Stop it right now! You can't do this!"

"I have to." Batman said solemnly.

"Bruce there has to be another way."

"No one else is going to die today, Diana. This is what I have to do."

"Bruce please! For the love of Hera listen to me!"

"I am listening Diana. I always do. And I'm sorry I have to ignore you right now…"

"Bruce, please…"

"I love you, Diana. And that's why I have to say goodbye."

"Bruce! I love you to, but-"

Batman turned off the radio. The watchtower had entered into the atmosphere now, and it was all Batman could do to keep it on course. The sky was blurring passed, and chunks of the watchtower were flying off. The outside was burning up, and the inside was growing dangerously hot.

On the screen, Batman saw the factory. He closed his eyes and breathed in a deep sigh.

He knew all too well what would happen. He thought about Dick… and what he would have to do after the plant was destroyed.

Batman turned on a recording device, and began transferring the feed to the Batcave. His final words would be recorded, and he knew very well that Alfred would make sure his loved ones heard them.

"I'm sorry Dick." Batman said sadly. "I'm so sorry to put you through this, knowing what you have to do… knowing that Galatea will die… I guess we all make sacrifices. Yours being your love… and mine being my life. I believe in you, Dick. I know you'll do what's right in the end…" He smiled warmly. "I believe in you."

His thoughts trailed to Diana. "Diana, one of my only regrets in this life, is that I didn't spend more time with you. That I never had a chance to tell you how much I love you… God, Diana… I'm so madly in love with you, and it scares me so much. There isn't much in this world that I'm afraid of, but you and me… Its probably my biggest fear, and also my greatest dream. I'm so sorry I never found the strength to let you know, just once, how I really feel about you… I'm sorry."

Next his mind wandered to Jason. "Jason Todd… back at the factory, you said you were the screw up. But you're wrong. It isn't like that. Hell, I don't even know if you'll hear this, but if you do… I want you to know that I failed you. Not the other way around."

Next his thoughts trailed to Alfred. "Al, after my parents were killed, you were always a father figure to me. And throughout my entire life, you've been my closest friend, my guiding light, and my most trusted ally. I thank you for supporting me, even though I know you never liked the idea of Batman. I just want you to know, I'm thankful for everything you've given me over the years."

"And finally, Tim Drake." Batman smiled. "Don't you dare screw things up. You'll surpass me one day when it comes to intelligence, but I want you to know that being intelligent, and being smart are two completely different things. Don't make the mistakes I did. Don't get so swallowed up in your job, that you forget who's really behind the mask. Those are my final wishes to you, please."

"And with that, goodbye… and good luck." Batman turned off the transmission. He closed his eyes.

And then the impact came.


	29. Light Shines Through

**Next chapter is the last one, everybody! Thanks to all my dedicated readers who have followed me up to this point, and extra thanks to my great reviewers.**

Chapter 29: Light Shines Through

There was thundering, earth-shaking explosion, shattering windows all through Metropolis and shaking the very foundations of virtually every standing structure. From atop the Daily Planet, Dick saw an entire area a few miles away suddenly erupt into a fireball!

"Oh no…" Dick muttered. "Bruce… what the hell did you do…?"

Standing a few feet away from him, Green Arrow answered his communicator. "Uh huh. Got it. He did what? Oh God… is everyone alright? Ok. Thanks." He finished his short conversation and returned the communicator to his pocket. "That was Shayera." He announced. "The clone factory is destroyed. We're good to go."

"And what was that blast?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That was the watchtower." Green Arrow said grimly. "And Bruce was in it." There was utter silence.

"Ok." Said Dinah. "The best thing we can do now is to finish what he started."

"Dick…" Galatea stepped forward and looked the young man in the eyes. "You know what that means. Quit pretending like you don't."

"'Tea, I can't just stand back and watch you die. I won't." Dick said solemnly.

"Come on, you know it's the only way." She touched his face gingerly, and saw that he was fighting back the threat of tears. She allowed a few of her own to spill.

"No. I won't do this." Dick repeated.

"Then don't. I'll do it. But it has to be done." Green Arrow reasoned, his arms folded and his expression grim.

"No!" Dick spun around and drew one of his escrima sticks. "I don't care what you think you have to do, Galatea isn't going to die! And I'll fight each and every one of you if I need to, it that'll get my point across!"

"Dick stop it." Galatea spun him around. "There's no other way."

"There has to be."

"There isn't."

"I don't believe that."

"You need to."

"'Tea I-"

"Listen to me! You heard Bruce, we-"

"I don't give a damn what Bruce said! Bruce just flew in like a Kamikaze and blew himself up for Christ's sake! You really want to take that man's advice?"

"Will you shut up and listen to yourself for a minute?" Galatea urged, but she was not angry. "He just died for this. Kara offered to die for this, Cyborg nearly died for this, hell even Superman might die for this! We all have to make sacrifices Dick, that comes with the job… we all make sacrifices for the greater good. Including me. And including you."

"Huh…" Dick breathed a long, irritated sigh. "You really want to do this, don't you?"

"If it means no one else will get hurt, then yes. And it does." She nodded. "I did a lot of things I regret, Dick. A lot of really horrible things. You showed me that there was a life outside of Cadmus, and now… now I have to give that life up, to atone for all those horrible things."

"Galatea…" Dick said softly, his voice almost a whisper. A single tear ran down his cheek. He turned toward Green Arrow slowly, and in the same wavering voice said, "Give me the weapon."

Green Arrow handed Dick the rifle-like device that was designed for killing Luthor's clones. The device would tear its target apart on a cellular level. The device that was about to save the world. The device that was about to take away the only girl Dick had ever truly loved.

"We'll leave." Dinah nodded, nudging Oliver in the ribs. They quickly took off on a grapple-arrow and left. Kara and Volcana flew away as well, leaving Dick and Galatea alone on top of the Daily Planet.

Reluctantly, he backed up. "I don't know if I can do it."

"You have to." She said calmly.

"I know." He sighed, and after a long pause, he raised the weapon to his shoulder, crying openly now.

"Dick, please don't be sad." Galatea smiled. "I got what I wanted. I had a life, I had my freedom, and I had you. It was a little short lived, I know. But I got what I wanted. Now it's my time."

Dick nodded slowly, anguish on his face. "I love you." He said.

"I love you too."

And with that, he took brief aim, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger. For a long millisecond, nothing happened. Then there was a brilliant golden flash. One that Dick saw even through his closed eyelids. The light was like a miniature sun, and it quickly expanded.

First it illuminated the sky, and raw sunlight from Galatea's cells incinerated all of the clones in Metropolis. Then it spread further, reflective all over the western hemisphere, and then onto the east, illuminating everything, creating one, global, universal, day. Dick felt himself bathed in the warm light, a sensation like he had never experienced before. He eventually stopped resisting the urge and opened his eyes, knowing full-well the blinding effects that awaited. Through the flash he saw memories, memories of his times with Galatea.

He remembered when they had first met, in the abandoned Cadmus bunker after Superman had kidnapped him. He remembered sitting in the Batcave infirmary, holding her hand tightly while Batman removed the kryptonite shards from her body, obtained during the battle.

He remembered at the small pond behind Wayne Manor, when they kissed. He remembered when Cadmus came to take her back, and he had defended her. He remembered the battle in Metropolis, when she had betrayed them for an antidote to clone degeneration. Then three months later, when she had saved his life from a shield explosion at the Bludhaven bay. He remembered her bringing him to Wayne Manor, and leaving quickly. Then he remembered when they were battling Cyborg and Superman in Metropolis, and she lost control… he remembered he and Roy hunting her down, and he remembered fishing inside her mind, helping her battle the evil within her.

He remembered the night they had spent together at the Metrotower. And now, more than ever, he remembered the ring he had been planning to give her. It wasn't anything fancy, but the best that he could afford. And he had planned to propose to her. But now that was gone. With one bright, world-saving flash, all of that was gone.

The light finally faded, leaving Dick alone, on top of the now smoldering hot Daily Planet. He pulled the ring from his pocket, threw it was far as he could, dropped to his knees, and wept.

All around him, all around the world, the clones had been either de-powered or disintegrated by the light. The few damaged clones remaining were now being easily picked off.

And Lex Luthor's plans began to crumble.

_Meanwhile, at the Metrotower…_

"Finally got it!" Question shouted, filling a hypodermic needle with a dark blue fluid.

"What is that?" Huntress asked.

"I isolated the clone degeneration gene from Stormy and her sisters. Then I added a few of my own ingredients to strengthen the gene, make it more fast-acting. And I have it right here."

"Alright, so what do you plan to do with it?" Huntress raised a confused eyebrow.

"Simple. I plan to take advantage of Luthor's new body."

"I'm going to ignore how wrong that sounded." Huntress smiled. But suddenly the realization dawned on her, and she gasped. "You think it'll work?"

"If we can inject him, then yes. But with that solar-suit charging him up, that may be difficult. Especially since he and Superman are on the other end of the city…"

"I can get it over there." Flash suddenly appeared in the room, looking serious.

"Wally are you sure? Luthor is ridiculously powerful right now, with that solar suit. One attack from him could kill you." Question warned.

"Yeah, yeah, lives in danger, what else is new?" Wally grabbed the needle. "I'm sick of being the backup guy. I want to be the hero for once, the guy who takes down the villain and saves the day." He pulled on the Flash cowl and smiled confidently. "I'm taking Lex Luthor down."

_Meanwhile, in the lower end of Metropolis…_

"No!" Mayan/Lex Luthor shrieked, mentally feeling the clones die. "No! No! No! Impossible!" Luthor looked around and witnessed his clone army reduced to dust.

"That's the big mistake that you continue to make, _Lex_…" Superman got to his feet, battered and bloody. His costume was torn to shreds, and his torso had been reduced to a darkening rainbow of purple and yellow bruises. He bled from dozens of wounds all around his body, and his left arm hung on an unnatural angle, broken. "You continue to underestimate my team."

"Son of a bitch…" Luthor grumbled. "I'll rip you apart!" Mayan Luthor suddenly became a blur, slamming into Superman with enough force to create a sonic-boom upon impact. Superman spat a torrent of blood and sailed backward, digging a mile-long trench in the concrete. As soon as he was on his feet, heat vision bore painfully into his chest, taking him down again. He looked up, and was greeted by Luthor's fist. Superman spat a bloody tooth and took a crushing kick to his already broken ribs.

"If I can't have the world, then at least I can have your head!" Luthor screamed, striking Superman in the back of the head and cracked his skull. Superman immediately saw stars, and his vision started to darken.

_Six minutes earlier, in the ruins of the clone factory…_

Jason Todd walked toward the blazing rubble left over from the watchtower. "You really did it, didn't you old man?" Jason muttered. "You really just killed yourself."

He heard a rustling off to the side, and turned his head to see the Justice Lord's Batman, injured from the explosion and hobbling for an exit. "Don't think so." Jason pulled a Glock from his belt and shot Lord Batman in the back of his armored cowl, knocking him down but not killing him.

Jason walked casually over and ripped the cowl off of Lord Batman. He then drew his bowie knife and sliced off the bat-symbol on his chest. "What the hell are you doing?" The Lord's Bruce Wayne asked with sheer violence in his voice.

"Making things right." Jason kicked the cowl into a large fire. "You don't deserve to wear that." Jason looked down and kicked the villain in his chest, knocking the wind out. "What are you waiting for? Get the hell out of here. Run to some little rabbit hole and hide, and don't ever stick your neck out. Because I swear, if I _ever _see you in this world again, I'll put a bullet between your eyes faster than you can blink. Got it?"

The Lord's Bruce Wayne stood up in confusion. "Why not just kill me?"

"Because that wouldn't mean anything." Jason shot the man a glacial stare. "Not a damn thing."

"I don't understand." The Justice Lord said evenly.

"No, you wouldn't." Jason spat, and then turned and walked back toward the blazing remains of the watchtower. When he looked back, the Justice Lord was gone.

"Well that was quite a show." A feminine voice said from behind. "Did I see a hint of morality there, Jason Todd?"

"Shut up bitch." Jason turned around stared Denise in the eyes, pure hate glowing in his.

"Oh come on baby, what I did before, that was just business." She walked casually over to him and planted a kiss on his lips. "We're partners in crime, remember? Bonnie and Clyde!"

"I said shut up." Jason shoved her away.

"Jason, baby," Her eyes narrowed. "I really do love you."

"I couldn't care less."

"Don't be so hard to get." She pushed him against a wall and kissed him again. This time, he kissed her back. They stood there passionately for a minute, before a sharp pain fired through Denise's entire body. The breath fled her lungs, and she looked down to see Jason's knife in her stomach, blood pooling around the wound. "J- Jason…"

"Just business… baby." Jason said coldly, as he pushed her over and let her die. "Nothing's actually changing you know." He whispered to her. "You were already dead inside anyway." That was the last thing Denise heard, before she fell into eternal sleep.

Jason left the knife, and stood before the rubble. There was a rustling, and he quickly sprinted over. He pried off a heavy chunk of steel, ignoring the fire burning at his flesh. Underneath was Batman, bloody, dying, and impaled through the heart by a long metal pole. Batman was spewing blood from every orifice in his body, his skin unnaturally pale, and he trembled violently.

_He isn't dead yet, but he's going to be." _Jason realized. Then, thinking quickly, he sprinted to the remains of Lord Batman's lab, and grabbed the vile that he recognized. After returning back to Batman, he poured the liquid from the vile into one of the Dark Knight's open wounds, and then pried him off of the pole through his chest. Instantly, wounds began to heal, closing up.

Batman's eyes drifted open. "What did you do…?"

"I gave you the solution with both the nanites and the Doomsday serum." Jason said grimly. "They'll heal you."

"You did what?"

"It was the only way."

"No!" Bruce let out a primal roar and smacked Jason across the ruined complex. "Should – have let – me die." He grunted as his muscles began to bulge out of his costume. Painfully, a series of bone spikes ripped through his flesh, and his eyes turned a deep, unnatural red. An animalistic hunger loomed in his furious gaze, and he screeched violently… an ungodly shrieking sound that could be heard for miles.

"Oh God!" Jason gasped. "I didn't realize how much the Doomsday serum would affect him… Lord Batman must have built failsafes into the clones to resist a full change, but Bruce… oh my God he's changing into a monster!"

Diana came to the area, and slid down a pile of rubble. She ran toward Batman, breathing hard. She looked elated that he was alive, until she got a better look. She saw the monster he was becoming, and looked to Jason. "What the hell is happening?"

"He was going to die, so I gave him the serum to heal his injuries… but he's transforming now! It looks like he's fighting it, but I don't know how long he can last." Jason shouted back.

Diana watched in horror as Bruce's flesh was ripped apart by his growing muscle, and then reformed just as quickly in the form of steely, wire-like flesh.

A breeze blew by, and in her ear Diana heard the voice of Thanatos. _"This is what I meant, child." _Diana gaped, and ran to the wailing Bruce. Unable to control himself, he swung a punch at her, and she barely managed to avoid it.

"Bruce! I'm here!" She huffed.

"Diiiiaaaannnnaaaa…" A flash of recognition fluttered across Bruce's face, which was now barely human. "Kkkiiilll mmeee!" He pleaded.

"What?" Diana backed way.

"K- Kill me! Plleeaassseee!" He screeched, fighting as hard as he could to remain human. "I c- can't fight this… do it!"

He threw her a sharp, burning hot shard of metal from the wreckage, and prepared for her to strike. Diana held the weapon in her hands, tears streaming down her face. Finally she sighed and threw the weapon down, instead pulling Bruce into a deep kiss.

After pulling away, Bruce's eyes were the familiar dark brown for a moment, but then reverted back to the primal red.

"Bruce, I believe in you. I believe in how strong you are." She held his hand cautiously, and saw some of the bone spikes beginning to recede. "You have enough willpower, Bruce. I know you do. You can beat this thing. _We _can beat this thing. Together." She kissed him again. "I love you."

"Love – you – too." Bruce choked, his human voice starting to come through like static. More and more he was resisting the change, and she continued to encourage him. After nearly twenty minutes, Bruce was lying on his knees breathing heavily, looking human. "It's still there…" He clutched his heart. "I feel it. But we seem to have driven it back for now…" He panted.

He glanced over and saw Jason leaving. "Jason!" He called, his voice sounding pained.

"I left instructions for deactivating the nanites written on the wall, in Denise's blood. Shouldn't be hard to find." Jason yelled back. "As for the Doomsday change, you'll have to deal with on your own."

"That's not it…" Bruce crawled to his feet.

"What then?" Jason turned around to face him.

"Jason… you'll always have a home. I want you to know that." Bruce said warmly.

"Thanks." Jason said, true sincerity in his voice. "But I have to pass. That just isn't the path I want to walk anymore."

"I know."

After that, Jason was gone. Bruce felt another change coming on, and fresh bone spikes were already beginning to pierce his skin. "Damn it!" He grunted, trying to fight back the change again. "I can't keep this up Diana."

"I know." She said quickly. "Come on, let's go find J'onn."

_Back in lower Metropolis…_

"This – ends – now!" Luthor screamed, pummeling Superman further into the concrete. A mace sailed out, but Luthor's super hearing picked it up, and he caught the weapon in mid flight. He looked up to Hawkgirl and Green Lantern flying toward him. "More lambs the slaughter, I see." Luthor grinned.

He could hear off to his left, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Volcana, and Supergirl were showing up as well. "Bring it on then!" Luthor yelled, rising into the air. "I'll kill you all!"

There was suddenly a red blur, and Flash came in with a needle, flailing toward Mayan. Luthor swiftly dodged to the side and literally flicked Flash across the street, through a small shop window. Flash stood up quickly, rubbing his head. "GL! Heads up!" He yelled, throwing the needle into the air. Green Lantern flew for it, but in a blur, Mayan Luthor struck the lantern in the chest with a powerful kick, taking him down. Kara met Luthor with a punch to the face, but it did little damage at all. He quickly blasted her away with heat vision, burning her straight through a building!

Hawkgirl grabbed the needle, and suddenly pain rocketed through her body as Luthor kicked her hard in the small of her back. He grabbed for it, but was hit by an explosive arrow from Green Arrow. When the smoke cleared, Luthor was gone.

Suddenly Green Arrow was punched hard in the throat, putting him flat on the ground, and Luthor stomped on his back, crushing his entire quiver of arrows. Luthor then pressed further, threatening to damage the archer's spine, when Dinah blasted him with a powerful sonic scream. It was only a matter of minutes, however, before Luthor flash-froze her with his breath, shaking away the blood from his ears. Volcana drenched him in a torrent of fire, but he simply spun around at super speed, creating a cyclone of flame! He blew the fire toward Flash, who was running in a futile attempt to catch the needle before it reached the ground. Flash was forced to dodge, missing the needle. It crashed onto the road, and shattered, spilling the dark blue liquid into a puddle.

Luthor broke out laughing. "Whatever that was, it's useless to you now!" He proclaimed as he gleefully struck Superman again. He blocked more strikes by Flash, eventually sending the speedster spiraling with a flick of his hand.

Then his super-hearing detected a new presence. "Who the hell-" Luthor turned and found himself hit by both Superman and Supergirl punching in unison, both striking Luthor's face! His head was thrown back, blood spraying from his nose, and he had no time to decipher who the new arrival was. He quickly spun around and roundhouse kicked the two Kryptonians, watching happily as they tumbled violently down the road.

Luthor laughed again, and prepared to land one final strike on the man of steel, when suddenly he gasped. A sharp pain fired through him, and he looked down to see a sharp steel blade sticking through his chest!

Behind him was the woman holding the sword, the Justice Lord's Diana! "You double crossing bit-" Luthor started before she twisted the blade in his chest, sending a new, worse wave of pain that shut him up. In horror, he realized that his fingers were beginning to rot, literally falling apart. "How…?" Then he looked at the blade again and saw it glimmering with a dark blue liquid coating.

Lord Diana had covered the blade of her Amazonian sword in the solution Question had created, and now Clone Degeneration was spreading through Mayan Luthor's cloned body at an unbelievable rate.

"No!" Luthor shrieked as his entire left arm from the elbow down disintegrated. Lord Diana pulled the sword out and let him fall to his knees. His face started to wither away, revealing bone underneath the blackened flesh. More and more holes began to form in Luthor's body, painfully eating him away. "Stop! Superman! You aren't going to just let me die are you?"

"I should." Superman said coldly. "I really, really should. But I won't." He took a second needle from Huntress, who had just arrived on her motorcycle. Superman pressed the needle into the vein on Luthor's neck, the antidote to the degeneration. It immediately stopped spreading, but the damage was already done. Mayan Luthor was missing an arm, and half a face.

Superman balled up his fist and delivered one final, crushing blow to Luthor's weakened body, watching him crash to the ground. He turned and started to walk away, when Luthor _laughed_!

The villain lay on the ground, chuckling. "I really didn't think it would come to this… but it looks like I have no other choice." With his remaining arm, Luthor opened a compartment on the chest of the solar suit, revealing a small keypad. He typed in a code, and then ripped the control pad out, throwing it aside. Then, a huge yellow ball began to form in the sky.

"That doesn't look good." Flash said, his voice rising. "What is that?"

"What on Earth did you do Luthor…" Superman gasped.

The madman was still laughing. "It's my final backup plan; if all fails… it's an extermination! I have four satellites orbiting the sun, feeding this suit raw solar energy… and now those satellites have clustered together, just outside Earth's atmosphere… they're pooling together all their collected energy, and releasing it as one, solar blast!"

"What?" Superman glared. "You mean…"

"It will bore straight through the center of the Earth…" Luthor laughed hysterically. "You're all going to die!"

The blast fired, lighting up the sky with a blinding golden flare. And without a second thought, Superman raced toward the blast.

"Wait!" Kara yelled. "It's more than you could possibly absorb right now! It's going to kill you!"

"I know." Superman replied grimly, before flying off into the sky, straight at the blast! He struck the beam full-force, his body filling up on solar energy quickly. Then his cells began to overcharge, and he felt damaging effects immediately… his body began to shut down. But he couldn't give up; even as the light faded from his eyes, and pain swelled over his body from the inside out… he refused to stop. He was utterly determined to stop this blast, and save the people he had once called his friends…

Suddenly there was large red blur. "I'll handle it." Said Hank Henshaw, hovering next to Superman against the blast.

"What…?"

"You've got more to live for." The Cyborg said sincerely, sounding human now. "You've got a kid now. I had my chance, and I lost it… you still have yours."

"Hank, I-"

"Take care of Terri for me, ok?" Henshaw smiled his body's robotic grin, true human warmth coming from it. "I saw the good you did today. Keep that up, will ya'?"

"I'll try." Superman smiled. "I really am-"

"Sorry? Yeah, yeah, I know. Get out of here." Henshaw instructed, and then the man of steel allowed himself to fall, plummeting back to the Earth, smoke billowing from his overheated body. He was caught by Kara, who brought him gently back down to Earth. She looked him the eyes.

"Clark, you really are back, aren't you?" She asked.

"I think so." Superman smiled, and she hugged him, tears running down her face.

"Things can never be the same you know." Superman said solemnly.

"I know." Kara backed up, and then Superman passed out.

And in the skies above, Hank Henshaw absorbed what was left of the blast, his body radiating violently. "Forgive me… Terri." Hank then soared into space, drifted near the four LexCorp satellites, and closed his eyes.

His body exploded.


	30. Epilogue

Chapter Thirty: Epilogue 

Superman awoke to the vaguely familiar sight of the infirmary at the Hall of Justice. No sooner than he had registered where he was, an alarm began to sound. Only seconds later, J'onn drifted into the room and deactivated the alarm.

"So you're awake." J'onn said plainly.

"You brought me to the infirmary?" Superman sat up slowly, sounding genuinely surprised.

"On the wishes of Kara, yes, we did. We had to get this place up and running again, since clearly the watchtower is non-operational."

"What happened to Luthor?"

"He was taken back to Stryker's. We have taken extra precautions to hold him."

"What kind of precautions?"

"His cell was designed by Mr. Miracle, who we instructed to make sure it was a cell that even he could not escape from. Also, Luthor is periodically being doused in rays of the Gold Kryptonite which he himself created, to nullify his new body's Kryptonian powers."

"Sounds good. I hope that son of a bitch never sees the light of day again." Superman said solemnly. Then his mind wandered to different matters. "You said Kara requested to bring me here?"

J'onn nodded. "Where is she?"

"She is with Lois, and your son."

"My son!" Superman's eyes shot wide open. "I have a son…" It seemed to really dawn on him for the first time. He pulled the IV from his arm and began to rise to his feet.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed yet." J'onn stopped him. "You're injuries are extremely severe, and you are suffering from total exhaustion and-"

"Move." Superman pushed past him, and headed for the door. "I've missed too much already."

As Superman stepped out into the hallway, he nearly ran into Diana, who's eyes opened wide when she saw him. A wave of guilt crashed down over the Kryptonian. He remembered what he had done to her, a heavy lump formed in his throat. He spoke around it. "Diana…"

"No." She glared at him. "Don't apologize. I don't want to hear it."

"Diana, if it means anything at all, I regret every single moment of-"

"Damn it Kal stop trying to make it better!" She looked away.

_Kal. _Superman thought. _Not Clark. Kal. She doesn't think of me as human anymore. _"I know." He stepped back. "I know I can't make it better. Nothing can. But I'm glad you're here."

"I didn't come for you." She looked into the other room, through a tinted window that could not be seen through. Superman realized for the first time that he could hear a pained shriek coming from the room.

"What's going on in there?"

"It's Bruce." Diana said absently, touching her hand to the glass. J'onn stepped out into the hallway. "How is he?" She immediately asked the Martian.

"He's still fighting the change. But the Doomsday DNA is incredibly strong. It was one of Lord Batman's first samples, the _original _sample."

"What does that mean?" Diana's eyes widened.

"He modified the DNA used in the clones, removed the coding that allowed Doomsday to regenerate. But with the serum that was injected into Bruce, that is not the case. It is literally trying to replace Bruce's genetic material, and use him to regenerate Doomsday."

"Be honest with me J'onn." Diana's eyes narrowed. "Do you think he'll make it?"

"No." J'onn said automatically. "The machines are cleaning his blood, but the DNA is so deeply imprinted now that we would literally have to remove many of his cells to keep the change at bay, and obviously that cannot be done. It all depends on his will now, and we know very well that Bruce's will is twice as strong as anyone else's. But I seriously doubt that even he can stop this. He can't defeat his own body."

"Oh…" Diana's face darkened, and then lit up with denial. "But we also didn't think he'd make it out of the Watchtower crash, and he did!"

"Diana this is different. He can't-"

"Stop." Diana flung open the door to Bruce's room, and the screams came through louder than ever. She winced when she saw the man she loved, strapped by powerful chains to a cold steel table, his body thrashing violently and his skin peeling back as tiny bone spikes began to protrude, only to recede again.

"Diana it isn't safe for you to-" J'onn tried to stop her, but she was already gone, the door locking shut behind her.

_About an hour later, at Bruce Wayne's beach house…_

Kara eyed the infant in Lois's arms, seeing an immediate resemblance to his father. As this thought flitted through Kara's mind, she realized how nothing could ever be the same again. Even if by some miracle Clark stayed out of prison, or worse, then no one would ever trust him again anyway.

Especially not Diana or Bruce, the two of them had paid the most because of this. Diana had been beaten, raped, blinded, and for all incentive purposes killed. Not to mention she had watched hundreds of her Amazon sisters die by Superman's hand because Hippolyta had made some last-resort deal with Ares.

Then there was Bruce. Barbara Gordon had died during this whole ordeal; Jason had all but lost his last shred of humanity, no one trusted him anymore because of the files revealed on his computer, and he had had to suffer the pain of thinking that Diana had been killed. And then the pain of knowing what had really happened to her.

Kara could only begin to imagine how much Bruce and Diana had suffered because of all this, and she knew that more than anyone, they could never see things like before. The Trinity could never be the same. Not by a long shot.

Kara's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Lois looked up from the baby in her arms. "Alfred?"

"Don't think so." Kara shook her head, knowing that Alfred shouldn't be back from the store for at least another hour. Slowly, the blond got to her feet and opened up the wooden door. Her heart jumped when she saw Clark Kent outside. Not Superman. Clark. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt and white pants, wearing his glasses with deceiving casualty. A strange mixture of fear and relief flooded over Kara. "What are you doing here?"

"I for a couple of reasons. Among them, I wanted to thank you." Clark said quietly.

"Thank me for what?"

"J'onn made it clear that they only gave me medical attention because you insisted on it. Without you, I'd either have been left for dead or dropped off in a prison somewhere."

"Should you have been?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"You tell me."

"Can't decide yet."

There was a long moment of silence. Finally, Clark let out a deep sigh. "If it means anything, I really am sorry."

"It might mean something." Kara grinned slightly. "But then again, I might not be the one you should apologize to."

"Lois is here?" The question was followed by more silence. "May I come in?"

"You tell me." Kara stepped aside, and Clark entered. He moved through the glossy wooden kitchen and walked slowly into the main room, where Lois sat on a couch. The look she gave him was not one of surprise, but rather one of confusion. She was uncertain of his motives, or of how to even react to his presence.

"Hi Lois." Clark shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"Why are you here?" She said coldly, a glacial expression on her face.

"I wanted to see my son." Clark stepped forward. "May I?"

"Haven't decided yet. It doesn't make much sense to put a baby in the hands of a killer, you know."

"I know." His voice cracked as he said it. He sat down in the chair on the other side of the room, and looked at the small bundle in her arms. He could hear the tiny heartbeat, and see every small breath the infant took. A hard lump formed in his throat. He spoke around it in a small voice. "What's his name?"

"Jonathon."

"After my dad…" Clark looked to the floor. "Lois, I'm so sorry… about everything."

"Is that supposed to change anything Clark?"

"I was really hoping it would."

There was a long pause. Eventually, Lois got up, walked over, and placed Jonathon in Clark's arms. "Thank you." Clark smiled and looked down at his child, at the same sky blue eyes that he saw in the mirror every day. Tears formed in Clark's eyes. He let them fall.

"Are you really back?" Lois asked suddenly.

"I don't know." Superman replied. "Things aren't the same as before, Lois. We both know that. They probably never will be. I like to think I'm back… but I still feel like that fine line is thinner than ever. Like even the smallest thing could push be over the edge again, you know? It's a terrifying feeling, to be honest. Because I don't ever want to go back there."

"You need help Clark. Professional help." Lois said seriously. "You lost your mind and went on a killing spree, and lord knows what else went through your head. That won't just go away."

"I know." Clark nodded, still looking at his son. "Lois… I want you to be happy. Always. Do whatever it takes to be happy, don't ever even consider me." Clark waited a moment longer, and then gave the child back to her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not running anymore." Clark turned toward the door. "I can't run." He stopped by the doorframe and looked back. "I'll come back to see you one last time before I go."

"Go where?"

"I think you know already."

Then, with one final look to his son, he flew off into the sky. And Lois cried.

J'onn reviewed Batman's vitals with a grim expression. "So really, what do you think?" Wally asked, who had stopped by to check on Bruce during his recovery.

"He's still fighting, but it's literally tearing his body apart. Best case scenario… he dies."

"So what's the worst case scenario?"

"He loses the fight, and transforms into a new Doomsday."

"So it's hopeless then…" Wally looked through the windows of Batman's room, and could see Diana doing her best to comfort him. "Should we tell her?"

"No." J'onn said in a small voice. "I have a feeling she already knows."

Then the alarm began to sound loudly, the lights flashing in a systematic pattern. "What's going on?" Wally asked quickly.

"We have an intruder!' J'onn shouted over the sirens.

"Ugh… can't we get a break?" Wally huffed, and he and J'onn immediately took off to where the alarms had indicated. Someone had smashed through the skylight in the Hall of Justice, thus setting off the alert. But by the time the two heroes arrived, the only thing in the lobby was a small package, lying on the floor.

J'onn deactivated the alarms. "Whoever it was, it looks like they left us a gift." He said warily. Wally approached the package with caution, and spied a note tacked to the side of it. He pulled the note off and began to read it.

_-Found this at the site of the battle, thought it might help keep the old man alive. It's not much, but it's worth a try. I just thought I still owed him for, you know, everything…_

The note was not signed, but Wally could recognize the handwriting as Jason Todd's. He handed the note to J'onn and proceeded to open the package, thrown off by what he saw. A large package of blood.

"What the hell?" Wally gasped. "Why would he give us a bag of blood? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Actually, it just might… Jason isn't stupid…" J'onn grabbed the bag and immediately headed off toward the lab to conduct a DNA test.

After the results were complete, J'onn was not surprised to find that it matched Bruce Wayne completely.

"I still don't get it." Wally raised an eyebrow. "Why would Jason deliver us Bruce's blood?"

"Because it's not _our _Bruce's." J'onn grinned. "It belongs to the Lord Batman. And that means that it wasn't infected by the Doomsday serum."

"Wait a minute!" Wally's eyes lit up. "So that means… we could literally replace some of Bruce's infected blood?"

"It's worth a try, if nothing else. Tell Diana she needs to leave the room for a while, I'm about to perform a blood transfusion."

_The Next Day, at Hobbs Bay…_

Volcana walked into the apartment smiling. "Good news Anthony." She said.

"What is it?" Anthony looked up to his mother innocently.

"I just finished talking to Hippolyta… and I made a deal with her. I'm going to be allowed to stay here with you, as long as I visit Themyscira at least once a year."

"Wait, so you don't have to go away again?" Anthony smiled brightly. Without hesitation, he leapt forward and hugged her. She looked out the window of their new apartment with tears running down her face. Oliver Queen had gotten them the apartment, as well as given her a legitimate job in welding for large companies. It wasn't at all a difficult job for her, being able to control fire and all, and the pay was good. Soon enough she would be able to afford a house, and give Anthony the life he deserved.

It hadn't been hard to convince Oliver for the favor either, he had never been good at saying no to women. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. She turned slowly and opened it up, surprised to see Tim Drake standing to greet her. "Hi." He said.

"Um… hi Tim. What brings you here?"

There's someone I want you to meet." Tim smiled and stepped to the side. A man stepped into view who Volcana didn't recognize at first, but once she did, her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped.

"Hey Claire." The blond guy said uncomfortably, wearing a loose green t-shirt and blue jeans. He was Cody Driscoll, better known as the hero Risk.

"Cody…" Volcana murmured. Then she glared at Tim. "How the hell did you find him?"

"Well, Cody here is a small time hero named Risk, he served with the Teen Titans for a while, so I got to know him. Then I heard you talking about Anthony's dad, and how you met him when he broke into the NORAD base, and well… I put two and two together…"

"I got it." Volcana looked back to Cody. Anthony's father.

"I'm sorry Claire." Cody sighed. "I swear I didn't-"

"Where did you go?" She broke in. "What happened to you after that night?"

"It's kind of a crazy story, basically I was abducted by aliens." Cody half-grinned, and she gave him a fiery glare.

"Actually, he isn't joking." Tim interrupted. "That's how he got his powers."

"Oh…" She looked away. "So… do you want to meet Anthony?"

"Yeah." Cody said quickly. She invited him in awkwardly, and he entered. Anthony entered the living room with his hands in his pockets.

"Who's here mom?" He asked.

"Anthony…" Claire swallowed. "This is Cody Driscoll… he's your father."

Anthony immediately looked at Cody with bewilderment. "Wh- what…?"

"Hey there." Cody tried to smile, despite being extremely uncomfortable, and knelt down in front of Anthony. "What's up?"

"Dad?"

"Yeah. Weird huh?"

"How come I've never seen you before?" Anthony began to sound defensive. "Didn't you know what happened to mom?"

"Uh…" Cody looked to Tim for help, but his partner took a step back.

"Sorry Risk, your on your own here." Tim said. He looked to Claire and whispered, "Try to go easy on him. He's a good guy."

"We'll see how it goes." Claire said with uncertainty.

Tim turned to leave, and he heard the door to the apartment close. He made his way down the staircase and out the lobby door, into the parking lot, where Stephanie Brown awaited him in her old Monte Carlo.

"How'd it go?" She asked.

"Cody's going to have some stories to tell." Tim grinned. "I think it'll all work out though."

"Only if Cody decides to settle down. There's a reason we call him Risk, remember."

"Yeah, but you know… we'll see how things turn out." Tim got into the car through the passenger door. "I can't wait until I get my own car."

"I don't know, I kind of like having you dependant on me." Stephanie grinned.

"So what now? Want to head to John and Shayera's wedding?"

"I dunno'." Steph shrugged. "I think I need a break from all that. Just a little time to myself, you know?"

"Would yourself like some company?" Tim smiled.

"I think I'd like that." She smiled back.

_Meanwhile, on Themyscira…_

Terri looked into the sky, missing Hank more than anything in the world. She couldn't stop remembering his death, how much it had meant… and it was all she could do to keep from breaking down.

She looked around her, trying to distract herself. Stormy and her other clone sisters had been welcomed to the island, and were now playing with the wildlife. They were fascinated by everything just as a small child would have been. Terri thought this was appropriate, considering the clones were actually only a few days old.

Children. _The child she and Hank could have had. _"Damn it!" Terri said aloud, clenching her eyes shut. "Everything reminds me of him… everything hurts…"

"You okay?" A voice said from off to the side. Terri looked over to see the Lord's Diana, holding baby Martha in her arms.

"Not really." Terri sighed, eyeing the baby. Without a word, the mother handed Martha over to Terri.

"Hold her."

"Thank you." Terri managed a smile, looking at the baby in her arms and missing Hank so badly. "So are you going to be staying here?"

"Looks that way. Hippolyta certainly doesn't mind another warrior here, with the impending threat of Ares and all."

"You aren't going to cause any trouble are you?"

"Oh hell no. I'm done with that. The truth is, I was just blindly following my world's Bruce for so many years… I pretended that I didn't realize he cared about his work more than me. But I'm done pretending."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Suddenly everything around Terri froze. Diana was still, the baby was still, the clones were still, even the birds had frozen in the air. "What the…" Terri muttered in shock.

"Terri Henshaw." A warm but powerful said from behind. Terri turned to see Thanatos looking upon her sympathetically. "How are you, child?"

"How do I look?" Terri wiped the tears away from her eyes and did everything she could to keep more from falling.

"I delivered Hank's soul today." Thanatos said.

"Where did you deliver it to?"

"That would be telling." Thanatos grinned only slightly. "But I will tell you this, his journey is not over."

"What does that mean?"

"Hate does not just vanish, child. It simply takes new form. Finds a new enemy to fuel it. You're husbands hate is no exception. But rest assured, love is just as powerful, and just as lasting."

"I don't understand."

"You will. I promise you that."

"When?"

"Soon." Thanatos stepped forward. "But until then, be free. Enjoy your life, regardless of how much it may have changed."

"I'm not sure you know what you're asking."

"Are you not happy here on Themyscira?"

"Well, it's beautiful, of course… amazing in every right, actually. But-"

"Nothing will ever be perfect, child. Even the gods have their flaws, especially the more powerful ones." As Thanatos said this, thunder rolled off in the distance, along with a threateningly bright flash of lightning cutting through the otherwise beautiful day. "See what I mean?"

"Sort of, but I just don't understand how that is supposed to make things better."

"Try not to think so much." Thanatos then turned and began to leave. "And remember, love is the only force who's effects last longer than hate. That knowledge will serve you well in the future."

And with that, Thanatos was gone. Terri sighed deeply, and turned to the forest around her. And a smile crept onto her lips. "Maybe I _could _get used to this place."

_About an hour later, on the dark side of the moon…_

Clark had been on his way somewhere else, when he had received an uncomfortable call from President Mercy, telling him there was something he needed to take care of. Superman arrived to find Lex, or Mayan Luthor, locked in a vault of sorts. Luthor was still missing an arm, half a face, and several patches of skin all around his body. Superman had been instructed to deliver Luthor to the dark side of the moon. When he asked Mercy why she trusted him, she said, "I don't. I'm hoping you'll get stuck up there somehow."

So now, just an hour later, Superman was in his spacesuit, with his oxygen tank operational, and literally flown the vault to the dark side of the moon. There was a small base that had been launched up there, which Superman could only see through his superhuman vision. He locked the vault onto the base, but before leaving, opened up a small window in the vault. There was thick bulletproof glass behind it, through which he could see Luthor staring at him with his one good eye.

"I bet you're pretty damn proud of yourself." Luthor hissed. "I bet you think you've really accomplished something here, you think you've gotten rid of me for good. And you don't know how wrong you are."

"What are you getting at?" Superman questioned. "That vault was designed by Mr. Miracle so that even he wouldn't be able to escape it. It was reinforced with layers of lead, and then double layers of Imperium, a metal that even a fully charged Kryptonian wouldn't be able to break. That rover-base will make sure you consistently stay on the dark side of the moon here, where you'll never be able to gain any power anyway. Not to mention, even if you did get out, you'd just be pulled into the vacuum of space and die."

"Oh Superman, your ignorance has always astounded me." Luthor said with venom in his voice, but also a tone of amusement. Maybe even a little satisfaction. "I don't plan on escaping. I don't have to. Because I've still won."

"How so?"

"Think about it for a moment. You went on killing spree, murdering everyone in your sight, and even tried to enslave the world. Do you _really _expect anyone to trust you again? No one is going to put any faith in you. Hell, they'll avoid you like the plague! You'll be the single most hated man to ever live. Aren't you always saying how no one is above the law? Shouldn't that include you, boy scout? You don't expect this to all just go away, right? You'll be incarcerated. You might even be sentenced to death. Oh sure, you could escape. But that wouldn't help you at all, they would just hate you even more." Luthor smiled. "I've still won."

"I know." Superman said, much to Luthor's surprise. "You're right." Superman turned to leave.

"You really think you're back?" Luthor hissed from behind. "I can see it in your eyes, Superman. You want to kill me. You want nothing more than to rip me to shreds. That darkness I created, it still exists and you know it!"

"It's always existed Luthor!" Superman barked. "If nothing else, you've proven that to me…" The man of steel turned around and smiled. "So thank you."

The look of absolute shock on Luthor's face was gratifying. _Thank you… _Luthor thought. _His last words to me, and the bastard says Thank You?_

Superman then began to fly away, hearing Luthor shriek behind him. "I worked so hard to ruin you, to destroy your life, and you _thank me_! You stupid son of a bitch! Get back here and kill me! Make me pay! Crush my skull! Do _anything_! SUPERMAN!"

_Meanwhile, back on Earth, at the Hall of Justice…_

Bruce opened his eyes slowly, the pain skyrocketing through his body was nearly unbearable. "Bruce?" He heard Diana's voice say. He looked up to see her staring at him with tears in her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Diana…" He moved his hand, just to see that he could he could. He looked to J'onn. "What did you do?"

"Don't thank me." J'onn turned to leave. "You owe your life to Jason Todd."

"What?"

Without another word, J'onn handed Bruce the letter, and then left the room, leaving Diana and Bruce alone. After reading the letter over a few dozen times, Bruce set it down, his hand shaking.

"It's okay to cry, Bruce." Diana smiled.

"There'll be time for that later. Right now there's something else I have to take care of."

"What's that?"

Suddenly, Bruce pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss. After a minute or two, she pulled away. "Where did that come from?"

"Diana, I almost died about four hundred times in the last few days. I've never been closer… and while I was watching my life flash before my eyes, I realized the one big thing missing from it… you."

"Bruce, I…"

"Listen Diana, I was terrified that I was going to die before you knew how I felt. I don't ever want to have that worry again. So I'll tell you, here and now. Diana you mean everything to me, I love you."

She hugged him warmly. "I love you too."

The door opened slowly, and Wally peered inside. "Yo lovebirds, if you're feeling up to it, John and Shayera would really like us at their wedding. You know, since the last one was interrupted by a horde of bald headed clones."

"You want to go?" Diana asked softly.

"I suppose I need to see how it's done." Bruce smiled. "You know, love and all."

_Twenty minutes later…_

Within twenty minutes, Bruce, Diana, Wally and J'onn had arrived at the location of the wedding. Since the church had been destroyed, the marriage was now taking place on a hilltop in a beautiful green field that John had suggested seemingly at random.

Dick was there, and Bruce waved at him. But Dick simply looked the other way, an angry fire in his eyes.

"Why is he upset with you?" Diana asked.

"I agreed with Galatea when she suggested that she give her life to destroy the clones." Bruce said in a low voice.

"Just give him time." Diana said warmly.

"I know."

The ceremony began, and Dick really tried to pay attention, and tried even harder to be happy for the couple. But all he could think about was Galatea, and how badly he missed her. He remembered that light, those last words… such a painful lump formed in chest that he thought he might need to go to the hospital. Tears ran down his face, and he did his best to hide them. He hadn't missed anyone so badly since his parents died. He had been in love. But now Galatea was just another void in his life that he knew could never be filled again. He leaned over to Oliver Queen, who was sitting next to him. "Tell John and Shay that I wish them the best." He whispered.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked.

"I just… I need some time alone."

"Don't do that too much, kid. You don't want to end up like Bruce."

Dick looked down to Bruce and Diana in the front row. "Actually, maybe I do." He said, then he stood up and did his best to leave without being noticed.

Toward the end of the ceremony, Shayera looked into John's eyes and whispered, "I still don't know why you insisted on getting married right here."

"Well…" John pursed his lips. "Mostly because I bought about forty acres of land out here."

"What?" Shayera's eyes brightened.

"That's right. I'm planning on building a house at right about this spot. We'll have plenty of room, plenty of privacy, this is where we get to start our lives, babe."

"Good." Shayera smiled. "Because we're going to need a bit more room pretty soon…" She briefly moved one hand to her stomach.

"You mean…?" J'onn gasped quietly.

"Not sure yet, but I think so."

A few minutes later they were embraced in a deep kiss, and they were officially married. Finally.

_An hour and a half later, in Metropolis…_

Dick looked up at the Daily Planet, at the building where he had watched Galatea die. "Damn it." He muttered, his voice shaky. He punched the side of the building so hard that his knuckles bled. "Why the hell aren't I allowed to be happy? Can't I get just one break now and then?" He cried.

A small weeping sound reached his ears. He turned and moved to the back of the building, reserved for employee parking. He saw a small, closed off square where garbage was dumped through a large industrial vacuum. He heard another moan. Dick walked over to the area and jumped the fence, landing in the small space between the fence and the dumpster. And lying there, practically glowing, was the barely conscious form of Galatea.

"What…?" Dick gasped. She was nude, and her skin looked new, as if she had just been rebuilt. He lifted her up in his arms. She was nonresponsive. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and called Bruce. "I need some help here."

_A half hour later, at the metro tower…_

Galatea had been dressed and laid on the bed in the infirmary, with a large sunlamp directly on her. After only a few minutes of examination, J'onn came to a conclusion.

"Turn the lamp off." He said.

"But-" Dick began to interject.

"It's ok Dick. It won't make any difference." J'onn smiled. "The Doomsday DNA left over in her blood actually caused her to reform, just as Doomsday does. After she imploded, there much have been some remnant on her left, and her body literally just… reanimated from that."

"You mean… the Doomsday DNA actually saved her?"

"Yes. But it's all gone now, it was burned away when her blood was replaced in reformation. She also adapted, however."

"What do you mean adapted?"

"Well you see, Doomsday evolves every time he does, so that he cannot be killed the same way twice. Since Galatea was killed because of her cell's ability to absorb sunlight, they no longer do this."

"Wait, does that mean…?"

"Yes, for all intensive purposes, Galatea is now human."

Dick looked to Bruce, wide eyed. "You knew the whole time, didn't you?"

"I had a hunch." Bruce smiled.

She began to wake up, her baby blue eyes fluttering open. "Dick? Am… am I alive?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "You are."

"Uh. Why do I feel so weak?"

"That's called being human, babe." He laughed softly. "Welcome to my world."

She sat up and hugged him tightly. Diana put her hand on Bruce's shoulder. "Come on Bruce, let's leave them alone for a while."

"Yeah. We could use some alone time ourselves." He said as they exited they room.

Once outside, Wally's phone immediately rang. He was on it for about two seconds before hanging up, his eyes huge. "Linda's going into labor!"

Before anyone else could even process this information, Wally was gone, blurring away toward the hospital.

By the time Diana got to the hospital, the twins had already been delivered. Linda was holding one of their newborn children, and Wally was holding the other, while fighting back tears of joy.

"Congratulations." Diana said from the doorway. "Wally, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it D?" Wally asked brightly, barely even looking up from the child in his arms.

"Well, I have that Wayne Enterprises ambassador job now…"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think I want to do that anymore. I have enough priorities here in this country. And since you have two twins to support now…"

"Uh huh?"

"Do you want the job?"

Wally looked up, stunned. "Seriously?"

"Sure."

"Would Bruce be ok with that?"

"I don't mind at all." Bruce said, stepping into the room.

"We knew you needed the money now, and you'd be great at it anyway. Plus, you know, with your speed you won't have to spend much time away from home no matter what country you're going to." Diana shrugged.

"Oh God. Thank you so much." Wally said, letting the tears fall now.

"Let me know when you have the time." Bruce handed Wally a business card. "We'll talk about your pay."

_Meanwhile, at the Kent Farm…_

Clark stood uncomfortably in his parent's living room. His mother was crying on the sofa, and his father was eying him strangely.

"We are extremely disappointed in you, son." He said deeply.

"I know." Clark sighed. "I made a mistake."

"A mistake? No Clark, a mistake is leaving the oven on. Trying to enslave the human race? That's a hell of a lot more than a mistake."

"I know. And I'll spend every second of the rest of my life making up for that."

"I know you will." John Kent's face softened a bit. "We won't be seeing much of you anymore, will we?"

"No one will." Clark admitted.

"Well." Martha Kent stood up. "I say we all have some pie, and then go pay a visit to this grandson of ours."

_John and Shayera's wedding reception…_

Everyone had arrived now. Bruce, Diana, J'onn, Dick, Galatea, Kara, Lois and her baby, Dinah, Helena, Vic, Oliver, even Jonathon and Martha Kent made an appearance. Wally eventually made a stop, but only planned on staying a few minutes before returning to the hospital.

Everyone was celebrating John and Shayera's marriage, when a highly unexpected guest arrived… Superman. Immediately, everyone was silent, and all eyes were on him.

"I had a speech planned…" Superman said. "But I don't think it would mean very much right now. John, Shayera, congratulations. Wally, you too."

He looked to Bruce and Diana. Diana looked away, while Bruce hardened his gaze. "I wouldn't have shown up here if I were you, Clark."

"I know." He looked down. "Listen, everyone… my father taught me that when you do something wrong, it takes two rights to make up for it. Following that logic, I have about a million and a half rights to do. I plan on going off on my own, and doing… well, whatever I can, until I feel like I've atoned for those past sins as well as I can. Then I plan on coming back, and accepting whatever punishment you might give me."

He moved toward Bruce. "I know things can probably never be the same now. But I want you to know… I really am sorry."

"I can't forgive you Clark." Bruce said grimly. "But if you really mean what you said… well, making up for past wrongdoings is something I can understand. And I wish you luck."

"Thank you." Superman looked to Diana. "Diana, I am especially sorry for what I did to you…"

"Shut up Kal." She muttered, still not looking at him. "I can't ever forgive you, not now. But I can move on. I can be civil. If you earn any respect, I'll give it."

"I understand."

His eyes wandered to Lois, and the baby in her arms. He moved over to her, and they had a silent conversation for several minutes. At the end, Lois said goodbye, and wished him good luck. Clark's final words to her were, "I love you."

Then he looked to Bruce. "Take care of my son."

"I'll try."

"I know." Clark said one last goodbye to Lois and to his son, before flying off into the sunset. "I don't know when I'll come back. But I know I have a lot work to do. Like I said… I'm not really feeling like a speech. But I'll miss you all."

With that, Clark was gone, disappeared into the sunset.

"Think we'll ever see him again?" Kara asked.

"He'll be back. When we need him." Bruce said solemnly.

"So what do we do now?" Wally asked. "Like, when it comes to the Justice League?"

"What else?" Bruce turned around. "We regroup."

The End

**There it is everybody, the grand conclusion! I had trouble making the ending turn out well, but I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who read this far, and a special thanks goes out to all my great reviewers.**

**Also, I'd like to point out that this story was pretty much co-written by LordFrieza, who provided a lot of inspiration for each and every chapter. This story wouldn't have been half of what it is without some of his ideas pushing it along.**

**There were times when this story was difficult to write, but I think it turned out well overall and I hope you think so too. A third story is possible in the future, but at this point it definitely won't be for a while. I need a break from this concept all together. Thanks,**

**-Sorahart**


End file.
